The present reconstruction of vegetation since the Last Glacial Termination (LT) from the fossil pollen in the Kokubu Plain, southern Kyushu, advanced our understanding of the vegetation history in southwestern Japan. The pollen profile in the plain indicated: 1) Cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved (CTDB) woodland mainly of Quercus subgen. Lepidobalanus developed in ca. 13.0–12.5 ka, 2) the woodland components changed from CTDB to warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved (WTEB) with warming in ca. 12.5–7.3 ka, 3) WTEB woodland dominated by Q. subgen. Cyclobalanus and Castanopsis developed after 7.3 ka. The pollen data in the plain show that Kikai-Akahoya ash fall had little impact on vegetation. We compiled spatial-temporal distribution of vegetation since the LT, using the pollen data from southern Kyushu. Mixed woodland of boreal conifers and CTDB covered southern Kyushu in ca. 14.0 ka, and CTDB woodland developed firstly in the Kokubu Plain after ca. 13.0 ka. WTEB woodland expanded after ca. 10.0 ka and became the major woodland after ca. 6.0 ka. Furthermore, it is highly possible that the time-lag in the establishment of WTEB woodlands between Kokubu and Kimotsuki Plains was caused by the flow of Kuroshio Warm Current into Kagoshima Bay.

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In this report, the author studied legume seeds found as impressions in Jomon potsherds and charred remains from Jomon sites in the Kansai region of western Japan and inspected the distribution of legume seeds in Japan. The author found legume seed impressions on late and final Jomon pottery, including a Glycine seed of “large oval soybean type” that is considered as a type indicating domestication. The data of legume seeds found as impressions on Jomon potsherds and charred remains so far reported show that the number of legume seeds increased during the late Jomon period and that the size of Vigna subgen. Ceratotropis seeds increased in later periods. These facts indicated the possibility that legume seeds (or methods of legume use) came to the Kansai region at least in the late Jomon period. However, there was no concomitant increase in the number of stone hoes used for gathering or managing plants in the late to final Jomon periods in the Kansai region, suggesting that the use of legume seeds didn’t bring a drastic change to the systems of plant usage in the Kansai region.

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Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) is considered as one of highly used plants in the Jomon period, judging from frequent findings of its stones at many Jomon sites. Use of red elderberry fruits in the Jomon period is still enigmatic since the fruits and stones contain cyanide-producing glycosides, rendering them toxic. Although red elderberry brewing has been argued, no experimental research has been conducted. Thus, we studied 1) the possibility of red elderberry brewing with other fruits, 2) the contexts and status of excavated red elderberries from the archaeobotanical database in Japan, 3) worldwide ethnological cases of elderberry use, and 4) nutritional values of fruits of S. racemosa subsp. kamtschatica. We found that 1) brewing of red elderberry produced less than 1% of alcohol, 2) 49.5% of charred stones were found from synanthropic contexts, 3) fruits of S. nigra and S. racemosa var. racemosa are used as food and medicine in the west, while in Japan, the branches are used for rituals, and 4) the fruits contain relatively high levels of vitamin C and E. These results indicated the necessity to verify the use of red elderberry in the Jomon period from two aspects, as a source of vitamins and for rituals.

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