Pollen analysis has provided important insights into various scientific disciplines since its inception 100 years ago. Recent advances in the basics of pollen analysis, such as the mechanisms and factors (e.g., pollen dispersal and production rates) that affect pollen-vegetation relationships, have led to a better understanding of the spatial scales of vegetation represented by fossil pollen. Increased use of scanning electron microscope has contributed greatly to pollen morphological studies, facilitating a better pollen identification and interpretation of pollen records. In addition, methodological and conceptual advances in the related fields, including sediment drilling and dating, use of molecular information, and computer technology, have further expanded the applicability of pollen-based reconstruction of vegetation history.

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This paper reviews subsequent development of the problem on Quaternary plant macrofossil researches which were discussed in 1986 in that Japanese Association of Historical Botany was founded. Shigeru Miki’s pioneer work on Quaternary paleobotany is firstly reviewed to recognize the original subject of vegetation history research based on plant macrofossils in Japan. Next, reviewed is current status of basic subjects on vegetation history research, including 1) managements and arrangements of samples, 2) database construction, 3) identification of taxa, 4) taphonomy of fossil assemblages.

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In Japan the study of wooden remains started ca. 100 years ago. Up to 1980 most studies concentrated on clarifying the taxonomic composition of wood remains that were not studied before. In the 1980s frequent excavations of lowland sites started, and the focus of research on wooden remains changed to clarifying the use of arboreal resources in the changing environment and background forests. In the 2000s two culturally important species, Toxicodenron vernicifluum for the Jomon period and Quercus gilva for the Yayoi and Kofun periods, came to be identified among wood remains. Research processes involved in the identification of these species are described, stressing the importance of the collection of wood specimens of extant woody plants in Japan. Several aspects of the prehistoric use of arboreal resources clarified by the identification of these species are shown. Various implications of the published databases for Japanese woods and microscopic identification of Japanese woods are described, and the importance of the database of archaeological wooden remains with a CD-ROM containing all the data is discussed. Finally, a future prospect for the study of wooden remains is presented based on the analyses of the data in the database of archaeological wooden remains.

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