Chronology of the Beginning of Pottery Manufacture in East Asia

Keally, Charles T.; Taniguchi, Yasuhiro; Kuzmin, Yaroslav V.; Shewkomud, Igor Y.

doi:10.1017/s0033822200039643

Cited by 42 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Within this context, the lack of evidence for plant foods in the majority of vessels analyzed throughout the sequence at Torihama is particularly interesting, because protracted boiling of nuts to remove toxic tannins and saponins is often cited as a major driver for the uptake of early ceramics (19,(37)(38)(39). The paucity of fat-rich ruminant products in pottery, which are easily distinguishable by GC-c-IRMS (25), is similarly intriguing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient lipids document continuity in the use of early hunter–gatherer pottery through 9,000 years of Japanese prehistory

Lucquin

Gibbs

Uchiyama³

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

134

105

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The earliest pots in the world are from East Asia and date to the Late Pleistocene. However, ceramic vessels were only produced in large numbers during the warmer and more stable climatic conditions of the Holocene. It has long been assumed that the expansion of pottery was linked with increased sedentism and exploitation of new resources that became available with the ameliorated climate, but this hypothesis has never been tested. Through chemical analysis of their contents, we herein investigate the use of pottery across an exceptionally long 9,000-y sequence from the Jōmon site of Torihama in western Japan, intermittently occupied from the Late Pleistocene to the mid-Holocene. Molecular and isotopic analyses of lipids from 143 vessels provides clear evidence that pottery across this sequence was predominantly used for cooking marine and freshwater resources, with evidence for diversification in the range of aquatic products processed during the Holocene. Conversely, there is little indication that ruminant animals or plants were processed in pottery, although it is evident from the faunal and macrobotanical remains that these foods were heavily exploited. Supported by other residue analysis data from Japan, our results show that the link between pottery and fishing was established in the Late Paleolithic and lasted well into the Holocene, despite environmental and socio-economic change. Cooking aquatic products in pottery represents an enduring social aspect of East Asian hunter-gatherers, a tradition based on a dependable technology for exploiting a sustainable resource in an uncertain and changing world.archaeology | ceramic | residue analysis | isotope | plant microfossil

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient lipids document continuity in the use of early hunter–gatherer pottery through 9,000 years of Japanese prehistory

Lucquin

Gibbs

Uchiyama³

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

134

105

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“…This includes Jomon Culture in Japan, with the earliest 'incipient' stage at ca 11,000 cal BC [2]. An early centre of pottery-making has been identified in the Russian Far East on the lower stretches of the Amur River: Gasya (14,200e10,690 cal BC), Khummi (14,600e9700 cal BC) and Goncharka (13,400e9700 cal BC), as well as Gromatukha on the Zeya River (13,500e9230 cal BC; [13,23,27]). Early dates have been obtained for pottery-bearing sites in the Trans-Baikal province in southern Siberia: Ust-Karenga (11,600e 10,450 cal BC), Ust-Kyakhta (11,900e11,150 cal BC) -1217 charcoal 7180 70 5980 127 Baz'kov Ostrov Ki-6652 tusk 7160 55 5995 127 Surskoi Ostrov Ki-6691 bone 7245 60 6085 127 Pechora Ki-6692 bone 7260 65 6095 127 Berendeevo 2a Le-1561 wood 7240 80 6100 127 The dates shown with no entries in columns 2e4 are those obtained in Section 5, where we adopt S i Z s c .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The chronology of Neolithic dispersal in Central and Eastern Europe

Dolukhanov

Shukurov

Gronenborn

et al. 2005

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…The average age for the 14 C results from Odai Yamamoto 1 is around 13,500 BP (e.g. Keally et al 2004). The earliest 14 C dates for pottery-associated complexes in the Amur River basin are about 13,300-12,300 BP (Kuzmin and Keally 2001;Kuzmin 2003bKuzmin , 2006aNesterov et al 2006).…”

Section: Y V Kuzmin Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

Major Patterns in the Neolithic Chronology of East Asia: Issues of the Origin of Pottery, Agriculture, and Civilization

2009

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General chronological frameworks created recently for the Neolithic complexes of China, Japan, Korea, and far eastern Russia allow us to reveal temporal patterns of Neolithization, origin of food production, and the emergence of civilizations. Pottery originated in East Asia, most probably independently in different parts of it, in the terminal Pleistocene, about 14,800–13,300 BP (uncalibrated), and this marks the beginning of the Neolithic. Agriculture in the eastern part of Asia emerged only in the Holocene. The earliest trace of millet cultivation in north China can now be placed at ∼9200 BP, and rice domestication in south China is dated to ∼8000 BP. Pottery in East Asia definitely preceded agriculture. The term “civilization,” which implies the presence of a state level of social organization and written language, has been misused by scholars who assert the existence of a very early “Yangtze River civilization” at about 6400–4200 cal BP. The earliest reliable evidence of writing in China is dated only to about 3900–3000 cal BP, and no “civilization” existed in East Asia prior to this time.

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Chronology of the Beginning of Pottery Manufacture in East Asia

Cited by 42 publications

References 10 publications

Ancient lipids document continuity in the use of early hunter–gatherer pottery through 9,000 years of Japanese prehistory

Ancient lipids document continuity in the use of early hunter–gatherer pottery through 9,000 years of Japanese prehistory

The chronology of Neolithic dispersal in Central and Eastern Europe

Major Patterns in the Neolithic Chronology of East Asia: Issues of the Origin of Pottery, Agriculture, and Civilization

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