2009 Volume 17 Issue 1 Pages 13-25
The Terano-higashi site is one of the most important wetland sites of the late to final Jomon periods in the Kanto plain, central Japan. The total 15 wooden structures excavated from a valley at this site clearly showed the characteristic utilization of lowland, water, timber, and vegetable food resources during these periods. We did an AMS radiocarbon dating of the seven wooden structures and tried a 14C wiggle matching for a timber of a wooden structure, SX-048, to obtain a more refined chronology. According to the radiocarbon dating, these wooden structures were classified into four groups: ca. 4500–4200 cal BP (earliest to early phases of the late Jomon period) of SX-077, 3600–3300 cal BP (late to final phases of the late Jomon period) of SX-074 and SX-046, ca. 3300–2900 cal BP (early to late phases of the final Jomon period) of SX-075, SX-041, and SX-048, and ca. 2900–2700 cal BP (middle phase of the final Jomon period) of SX-043. The wiggle matching indicated that SX-048 was constructed a little after 3100 or 3075 cal BP, coinciding with the Obora BC (Angyo 3b) type phase of the final Jomon period. At the Terano-higashi site, characteritically for these periods, timbers with large diameters were used for large wooden structures such as SX-048, and we could reaffirm that such timber usage characterized the lowland use during the early phase of the final Jomon period in the Kanto plain.
