Abstract
In order to reconsider the absolute chronology of sediment layers and types of pottery from the incipient to early Jomon periods at the Torihama shell midden site, we conducted radiocarbon dating on 32 samples of plant macrofossils obtained from sediment samples from research areas 81L (1981), 82T (1982), and 83T (1983). The sediment layers containing early Jomon pottery of the Kitashirakawa Kaso II types (83T, layers 6–31) were dated to ca. 5990–5655 cal BP, and those containg pottery of the Kitashirakawa Kaso Ib and Hashima Kaso II types (83T, layers 34–77) were dated to ca. 6500–6190 cal BP. Examples of roulette-patterned pottery (Oshigatamon) from the initial Jomon period excavated from sediments above and below the Mikata tephra layer (UOki) were dated to ca. 9675–9535 cal BP (81L, layers 38–41) and ca. 10,495–10,250 cal BP (81L, layers 43–44), respectively. Sediment layers including cord-marked pottery (Tajomon) from the incipient Jomon period were dated to ca. 11,615–11,280 cal BP (81L, layer 49). These radiocarbon dates, along with paleoenvironmental information from pollen and plant macrofossils from the same sediment samples, enable us to clarify the change in human-environment interactions from the incipient to early Jomon periods (ca. 15,000–5500 cal BP) at this site.
