Abstract
To clarify consumption of timber resources around the Edo Castle, the species composition of wooden artefacts at five arechaeological sites, Tameike, Shiodome, Yokokawa Icchome, Koutou-bashi Nichome, and Kinshicho- eki Kita-guchi II Sites, are compared. Though these sites differed in proprietor and geographical situation, their artefacts were characterized with frequent usage of Chamaecypris obtusa, weak selection for construction timber, and common selection for ‘geta’ sandals. The large consumption of cupressaceous timber for wooden artefacts disagreed with the scarcity of timber resources in the Japanese archipelago pointed out from the literature of forestry history. Preference for specificic coniferous taxa and their large consumption are not just the characteristics of the early modern Edo area, but are common characteristics of large cities, such as Kamakura of the Middle Age or the Heijo Palace of the Ancinet Age. Timber species with large additional value, such as Chmaecyparis obtusa, must have been selectively trasported to early modern Edo, balancing the efficiency and high cost of trasportation, and consumers must have selected timber according to their budget and timber price. The species compositon of the five sites reflected the early modern consumer economy developed at Edo based on the nationwide timber supply and transportation.
