The Transformation and Diversities of East Asian Neolithic Societies from the Scope of 'Storage' and 'Processing' of Wild Plant Food

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520876
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Archaeology
• Research Institution: Ochanomizu University
• Principal Investigator: HOSOYA Aoi お茶の水女子大学, グローバル人材育成推進センター, 特任講師 (40455233)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): OKAUCHI Mitsuzane 早稲田大学, 文学学術院, 名誉教授 (90093210) ; NAKAMURA Oki 立命館大学, グローバル・イノベーション研究機構, 専門研究員 (50296787) ; SHIBUTANI Ayako 国立歴史民俗博物館, 研究部, 特任助教 (80593657) ; YO Hei 滋賀県立琵琶湖博物館, 研究部, 学芸職員 (50470183)
• Research Collaborator: SEGUCHI Shinji ; KUBOTA Shinji ; RYU Shunrin
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 植物考古学 / 民族考古学 / 東アジア / 新石器社会 / 野生植物利用 / 植物加工技術 / 貯蔵文化 / 社会の多様性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research aimed at developing a new insight to East Asian Neolithic society from the scope of subsistence-related aspects, particularly the exploitation of wild plant food. It has recently revealed that wild food resources were significant all over Neolithic East Asia even after the introduction of agriculture, so we studied the subsistence culture based on 'storage' and 'processing' techniques, as they can commonly be discussed for pre- and post-agriculture society. Archaeobotany and ethnoarchaeology were set as the major research discipline. Firstly, we reconstructed transformation and local diversity of Jomon society in North Tohoku region, mainly based on analyses of botanical remains supported by artefacts analyses. This kind of botany-based analyses is quite a new attempt in Japanese archaeology. Secondly, we collected ethnographic information on traditional plant storage and processing techniques in China, where such ethnographic studies have not been previously developed.

Free Research Field

植物考古学、民族考古学