No description available.

This study considers the phenomenon of the sudden and brief appearance of clay figurines in west-central Kyushu towards the end of the Jomon Period (13,000-2,300 14C years BP). The baked clay figurines representing humans were made throughout the Jomon Period, but mostly in central and northern Honshu. Following a review of previous interpretations of the Jomon clay figurines in general, the study focuses on the case of the numerous figurines recovered at the Kaminabe (ca. 2,800 14C years BP) site in Kyushu. Data on lithic assemblages and plant remains at Kaminabe and the sites in the surrounding area during the period under consideration indicate that small-scale cultivation was being practiced in the region. It is suggested here that the Kaminabe figurines represent the females who played important role in production of plant resources.

No description available.

This thesis is concerned with the analysis of grave goods, from Yayoi period cemetery sites in northern Kyushu, to test for the presence of status rivalry and competition between leaders of different . communities. The study consists of a test of two major hypotheses that were derived from a model that links economic and political success of chiefs with wealth display and the mortuary ritual. Hypothesis 1 stated that status rivalry was present in the development of social ranking within communities in northern Kyushu. The key pattern in this case is that change in political authority is indicated by change in patterns of wealth distribution and display. Since there was a trend toward a lack of change in the number of separate wealth rank levels among burials, meaning a lack of change in patterns of wealth distribution, the analysis results disproved Hypothesis 1. Hypothesis 2 stated that status rivalry and competition ensured short-term political success and fluctuations in patterns of wealth distribution between sites in a regional exchange hierarchy. As a result, major structural changes occurred in the organization of the existing wealth exchange network. Since the analysis revealed that regions with the most developed hierarchy experienced the greatest upheaval and change in organizational structure, Hypothesis 2 was not disproven. Overall, the results show that structural change in wealth exchange systems occurred on a regional scale more than change in internal rank ordering and wealth control within sites. If wealth possession was an indicator of power, political control in Yayoi period northern Kyushu was of a very precarious nature. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

This study examines subsistence-settlement systems and residential mobility of prehistoric Jomon hunter-gatherers in Japan. Raw data were collected from Moroiso Phase (ca. 5000 B.P.) sites of the Early Jomon Period in the Kanto and Chubu regions. Many archaeologists have assumed that the Jomon people were sedentary inhabitants of large villages, occupied throughout the year. However, recent developments in Jomon studies suggest that we must reevaluate the assumption of Jomon sedentism. In this study, Moroiso Phase settlement patterns, including intersite lithic assemblage variability, site size and site location, are examined in the context of an ethnographic model of hunter-gatherer subsistence-settlement systems. The results indicate that the Moroiso Phase settlement patterns correspond very closely to those of hunter-gatherers who are relatively sedentary but move their residential bases seasonally. Changes of settlement patterns over time within the Moroiso Phase are also examined, and the results are explained in relation to changes in the natural environment.

A paleodemographic analysis was conducted using skeletal data from Jōmon period sites in Japan. 15P5 ratios were produced as proxy birth rate values for sites throughout the Jōmon period. Previous studies based on numbers of residential sites indicated a substantial population increase in the Kantō and Chūbu regions in central Japan, climaxing during the Middle Jōmon period, followed by an equally dramatic population decrease, somewhat resembling changes that occurred during a Neolithic Demographic Transition (NDT). The Jōmon are viewed as a relatively sedentary, non-agricultural group, and provided an opportunity to attempt to separate the factors of sedentism and agriculture as they relate to the NDT. Skeletal data showed fairly stable trends in birth rates, instead of the expected increase and decrease in values. This discrepancy calls into question the validity of previous studies. The stable population levels suggest that sedentism alone was not the primary driver of the NDT. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection