Residents of a Cultural Boundary Area

Lineage and Household Composition of the Tobinitai Culture in Northern Japan

Abstract

The Tobinitai culture is an archaeological cultural complex of proto-historic northern Japan formed by hybridization of the Okhotsk culture and the Satsumon culture in the eastern part of Hokkaido. It is assumed that in the Tobinitai culture there are two lineage groups, the first being of Okhotsk origin, and the second being of Satsumon origin. This article attempts to explain the relationship between lineage and household composition and settlement patterns in the Tobinitai culture.
First of all, I examine the pottery composition of some settlement sites, and look at the proportion of the pottery which is of Okhotsk origin, and the proportion of pottery which is of Satsumon origin. Furthermore, I compare the Okhotsk cultural elements with the Satsumon cultural elements in their house pits by attribute analysis. The results of this analysis show that most artifacts of the Tobinitai culture come from the Okhotsk culture, but that Satsumon cultural artifacts are actively received over time by the Tobinitai culture. However, the proportion of artifacts of Okhotsk origin decreases over time; conversely the proportion of artifacts of Satsumon origin goes on increasing throughout the duration of the Tobinitai culture.
These results lead to the hypothesis that the majority of households and settlements in the Tobinitai culture originate from the Okhotsk lineage group, and that the Satsumon lineage group could not form independent household by themselves in settlements of the Tobinitai culture. This analysis agrees with the existing assumption that the Satsumon lineage group married into households of the Okhotsk lineage group.