Abstract
The Yoshinogari Site in northern Kyushu was one of the nuclear sites of the Yayoi Period and continued up to the Middle Age. Wooden artefacts recovered at this site, mainly of the Middle and Late Yayoi and Nara Periods, included ca. 50 taxa. Species selection for 660 wooden artefacts shows that as many as 44 taxa were selected more or less equally during the Yayoi Period, whereas Abies was used, among 28 taxa, for half of the artefacts in the Nara Period. For building and construction timber, Castanea crenata was preferred for foundation timber and posts but with 18 other taxa during the Yayoi Period, whereas Abies was used nearly exclusively for well members and flat grain boards and Castanea creanata for posts together with eight other taxa in the Nara Period. For other artefacts, Quercus subgen. Cyclobalanopsis for cultivation and manufacturing tools of both periods and Abies for magemono containers of the Nara Period are conspicuous. Usage of Apho,nanthe aspera, Celtis, and Marus during the Yayoi Period and their obscurity in the Nara Period in spite of continued usage of evergreen laurel forest elements agree with vegetation changes reconstructed from pollen and plant macrofossil assemblages at this site.
