Dating Charred Remains on Pottery and Analyzing Food Habits in the Early Neolithic Period in Northeast Asia

Kunikitа, Dai

doi:10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16378

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The δ 15 N values of 75% of charred deposits analyzed ranged between 8.8‰ and 13.4‰ ( range has been previously observed in charred ceramic deposits from different coastal archaeological sites associated with the exploitation of fish and marine mammals (22,23), and is more consistent with reference tissues from aquatic organisms than terrestrial animals or plants (24), although mixing of the latter cannot be ruled out or accurately quantified using this approach. We note, however, that over 90% of the samples have atomic C:N ratios less than 12 (median = 9.7) (Table S1), which characterize protein rich foods rather than starchy plants (20). Charred deposits more depleted in 15 N (i.e., below 6‰) and consistent with terrestrial plant and animal foods were only observed in the minority of cases (approximately 8% of observations).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Similarly high δ 15 N values have been found in charred deposits on Jōmon pots throughout the Japanese archipelago (9,19,20). Lipid residue analysis has shown that marine and freshwater products were frequently processed in pottery produced by Holocene hunter-gatherers from Northeastern North America (22) and the Baltic (23,41), and in Japan as late as the Final Jōmon phase (1000-400 B.C.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although this approach has been widely applied to study the use of East Asian pottery (19,20), it offers only crude resolution of contents because of uncertainties in the isotope end-points of different foodstuffs and because of diagenetic alteration (21). The δ 15 N values of 75% of charred deposits analyzed ranged between 8.8‰ and 13.4‰ ( range has been previously observed in charred ceramic deposits from different coastal archaeological sites associated with the exploitation of fish and marine mammals (22,23), and is more consistent with reference tissues from aquatic organisms than terrestrial animals or plants (24), although mixing of the latter cannot be ruled out or accurately quantified using this approach.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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“…In total, δ 13 C and δ 15 N values were obtained on 157 samples from 21 sites (Fig. 3C), which were complemented with previously published data undertaken as part of AMS radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating programs (40,41). As with δ 13 C 16:0 , a broader range of nitrogen isotope values was obtained from the Initial Jōmon pottery [Incipient variance, σ 2 = 5.6, n = 119; Initial variance, σ 2 = 10.9, n = 71; Brown-Forsythe test F(1,188) = 13.49; P = <0.005].…”

Section: Holocene Pottery Used For Processing Of a Wider Array Of Aqumentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of environmental change on the use of early pottery by East Asian hunter-gatherers

Lucquin

Robson

Eley

et al. 2018

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

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The invention of pottery was a fundamental technological advancement with far-reaching economic and cultural consequences. Pottery containers first emerged in East Asia during the Late Pleistocene in a wide range of environmental settings, but became particularly prominent and much more widely dispersed after climatic warming at the start of the Holocene. Some archaeologists argue that this increasing usage was driven by environmental factors, as warmer climates would have generated a wider range of terrestrial plant and animal resources that required processing in pottery. However, this hypothesis has never been directly tested. Here, in one of the largest studies of its kind, we conducted organic residue analysis of >800 pottery vessels selected from 46 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites located across the Japanese archipelago to identify their contents. Our results demonstrate that pottery had a strong association with the processing of aquatic resources, irrespective of the ecological setting. Contrary to expectations, this association remained stable even after the onset of Holocene warming, including in more southerly areas, where expanding forests provided new opportunities for hunting and gathering. Nevertheless, the results indicate that a broader array of aquatic resources was processed in pottery after the start of the Holocene. We suggest this marks a significant change in the role of pottery of hunter-gatherers, corresponding to an increased volume of production, greater variation in forms and sizes, the rise of intensified fishing, the onset of shellfish exploitation, and reduced residential mobility.

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“…Kunikita et al . (2013) have employed isotope analysis of charred residues to confirm that the oldest pottery in Hokkaido was used for the processing of aquatic resources. Through the extensive application of lipid analysis to early pottery in the Japanese archipelago, Craig et al (2013) and Lucquin et al .…”

Section: Research Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedentism, pottery and inland fishing in Late Glacial Japan: a reassessment of the Maedakochi site

Моrisaki¹,

Oda²,

Kunikitа

et al. 2019

Antiquity

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Dating Charred Remains on Pottery and Analyzing Food Habits in the Early Neolithic Period in Northeast Asia

Cited by 11 publications

References 7 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 impact of environmental change on the use of early pottery by East Asian hunter-gatherers

Sedentism, pottery and inland fishing in Late Glacial Japan: a reassessment of the Maedakochi site

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