People, Plants, and Landscapes: Studies in Paleoethnobotany

5. Anthropogenesis in Prehistoric Northeastern Japan

CHAPTER 5 Anthropogenesis in Prehistoric Northeastern Japan GARY W CRAWFORD Paleoethnobotany in Japan has a relatively young history, especially with respect to intensive flotation sampling and interpretation of resulting data in the context of culture historical, processual, and other issues. Today, nearly fifty sites from a variety of periods have been examined by a handful of researchers using flotation. Recovery of plant remains from wet sites, which are relatively common in Japan, has also been emphasized in recent years. Although important data on cultigens are often derived from this work, they tend to be interpreted rather loosely, that is, without reference to taphonomic and depositional issues. In contrast, my own research has concentrated on recovering carbonized plant remains from dry sites in northeasternJapan and investigating them using a rigorous analytic framework. This chapter examines prehistoric anthropogenesis in northeastern Japan, an issue that has become increasingly well defined during the past two decades because of an ever-improving comparative data base. After first setting out a brief overview of the importance of anthropogenesis , I review perspectives on this issue in Japan. I present data from sites in northeastern Japan that serve to illustrate the human impact on the environment there, using weeds as an indicator of anthropogenesis for the sake of this discussion. The carbonized seed data are extensive and span a period from about 8000 B.P. to 1000 B.P. Subsistence regimes range from foraging in the earliest periods to relatively substantial agriculture by 1200-1000 B.P. I consider patterns consistent with four phases of subsistence and anthropogenesis: Initial Jomon (9500-7500 B.P.), Early through Late Jomon (7500-3000 B.P.), ZokuJomon (2300-1600 B.P.), and Yayoi-Ezo (after 1600 B.P.). 86 87 Anthropogenesis in Northeastern Japan Anthropogenesis Anthropogenesis is the process by which human beings impact their environment. The resulting effects are manifested in nonequilibrium ecological states characterized by spatial and temporal patchiness (Reice 1994). Disturbance is the main factor involved in nonequilibrium ecological states. By removing organisms such as trees from a habitat, human beings set in motion processes that change the character of the ecosystem. This disruption, if relatively severe, takes the system back to less mature successional stages. An extreme example is monocrop agriculture ; in contrast, a single tree-fall exemplifies a minimal, localized effect on an ecosystem. Young successional stages are characterized by rapid reproductive rates, short life cycles, and a high ratio ofproduction to respiration, resulting in high net production and high gross production in relation to standing biomass (Odum 1971). These characteristics mean that greater quantities of fruit and vegetal materials, as well as greater numbers of animals such as deer and rodents, thrive in disrupted ecosystems. Thus ecological disruption can be detrimental in some forms, of course, but the advantages to human beings, at least in the short term, are obvious. Anthropogenesis is a critical factor in the success of human cultures. Ecological disturbance as a normal part of ecosystems must also come to be acknowledged in environmental policy development (Reice 1994). Evidence for anthropogenic impact may be detected in paleosols, pollen profiles, wood charcoal assemblages, carbonized seeds, and the like. Of course, one must distinguish intentional activities such as field preparation from processes that produce similar effects, although not primarily intended to create new plant communities (e.g., extraction of construction materials, village periphery and interior disturbance). McCorriston and Hole (1991), for example, argue for the role of anthropogenesis in conjunction with other factors in the origin of agriculture in southwestern Asia. They argue that each region where agriculture began should be elucidated in its own terms (1991:10) as do many of the authors in Gebauer and Price (1992). In similar fashion, this chapter examines anthropogenic conditions correlating with the development of food production in prehistoric Japan. In addition, anthropogenesis contributes to our understanding of the remarkable success of the Jomon in northeastern Japan. I examine the evidence for human impact on vegetation, components of which became part of 88 Gary W. Crawford human subsistence. The body of data is carbonized plant remains from northeasternJapanese occupation sites spanning some 7,000 years. I pay special attention to herbaceous weeds, particularly annuals that colonize disturbed habitats, produce large numbers of seeds, and have rapid growth and high phenotypic plasticity. Yarnell (1963) and others have argued for the importance of the concept of reciprocity in human ecology. This perspective is not common in Japanese research...