A Reconsideration of the Pottery from the Rebunge Site

Ceramic Assemblages on the Coast of Volcano Bay during the Period of Diffusion of the Nimaibashi Type

Abstract

The Rebunge site is located on the north coast of Volcano Bay, southern Hokkaido. This site was excavated several times in the 1960s and 1990s producing shell middens and artifacts of the Epi-Jomon Esan culture. The pottery, stone and bone tools, and human skeletal remains have become important research materials for both archaeologists and biological anthropologists.
The archaeological remains from Rebunge, however, have only been partially published. In recent studies of the Esan culture, the remains from Rebunge have proven to be very important in clarifying the Epi-Jomon chronology of the area. The aim of this article is thus to report and reanalyze the pottery from the site.
The analysis demonstrated two points. Firstly, the sequence of the traditional pottery in this area continued after the diffusion of the Nimaibashi type from northeast Tohoku and after the formation of the Esan type in southern Hokkaido. Secondly, ceramics with both Nimaibashi and traditional elements appeared at this time. The authors propose a chronological relationship between the types and point out that the ceramic assemblage at Rebunge is unique when compared to other sites.