Access this Article

Search this Article

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to consider the relation between Man and his environ-ment during the Jomon era by using faunal remains, which were mainly excavated from Middle and Late Jomon period sites in Hokkaido. The North Pacific Ocean, which is rich in sea mammals, encouraged peoples along its coasts to develop various techniques in hunting these animals. Drift ice carries many sea mammals to Hokkaido, which is located on the northwestern rim of the Pacific, and people living there hunted sea mammals from the Jomon to the modern period. It has been pointed out that sea mammal hunting was an important subsistence activity in Hokkaido since the Jomon era. In this paper, I focused on the techniques of hunting sea mammals, especially the Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus), Japanese Sea Lion (Zalophus califoraianus japonicus) and Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubata) in the Jomon culture in Hokkaido. In order to discuss the technical developments of sea mammal hunting, I examined the remains of sea mammals that have been excavated and classfied them into several groups by their age and sex. The life cycle and migratory patterns of each species were also examined. Using these results, I divided the sea mammal hunting techniques into six types, according to technical complexity. Types A and B, which were used since the Early Jomon period, were not well-developed. This shows that at that time sea mammal hunting was not a stable enough major food supply. Hunting by techniques C to F, which were in use after the Middle Jomon, became an important subsistence activity on all coasts of Hokkaido. Around Uchiura Bay, of course, sea mammal hunting had been important since the Early Jomon. I also attempted to examine the ratio of vegetable food in the total diet of the Jomon culture in Hokkaido. To that end, I used the quantity of grinding stones as an index. I calculated the ratio of grinding stones to several stone tools in each of 36 Early to Late Jomon sites. The result shows that the use of grinding stones gradually retreated south over time, something which we might be able to attribute to climatic changes. It can be said that climatic changes in the Jomon era made plant f ood an unstable f ood supply f or the Jomon people, especially for those who lived on the northern boundary of the exploited flora. It is concluded that while the plant food supply fluctuated with climatic changes, sea mammal hunting became a more stable food supply after the Middle Jomon period. In this sense, sea mammal hunting was an important adaptation to the cold environment for the Jomon people in Hokkaido.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the relation between Man and his environ-ment during the Jomon era by using faunal remains, which were mainly excavated from Middle and Late Jomon period sites in Hokkaido. The North Pacific Ocean, which is rich in sea mammals, encouraged peoples along its coasts to develop various techniques in hunting these animals. Drift ice carries many sea mammals to Hokkaido, which is located on the northwestern rim of the Pacific, and people living there hunted sea mammals from the Jomon to the modern period. It has been pointed out that sea mammal hunting was an important subsistence activity in Hokkaido since the Jomon era. In this paper, I focused on the techniques of hunting sea mammals, especially the Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus), Japanese Sea Lion (Zalophus califoraianus japonicus) and Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubata) in the Jomon culture in Hokkaido. In order to discuss the technical developments of sea mammal hunting, I examined the remains of sea mammals that have been excavated and classfied them into several groups by their age and sex. The life cycle and migratory patterns of each species were also examined. Using these results, I divided the sea mammal hunting techniques into six types, according to technical complexity. Types A and B, which were used since the Early Jomon period, were not well-developed. This shows that at that time sea mammal hunting was not a stable enough major food supply. Hunting by techniques C to F, which were in use after the Middle Jomon, became an important subsistence activity on all coasts of Hokkaido. Around Uchiura Bay, of course, sea mammal hunting had been important since the Early Jomon. I also attempted to examine the ratio of vegetable food in the total diet of the Jomon culture in Hokkaido. To that end, I used the quantity of grinding stones as an index. I calculated the ratio of grinding stones to several stone tools in each of 36 Early to Late Jomon sites. The result shows that the use of grinding stones gradually retreated south over time, something which we might be able to attribute to climatic changes. It can be said that climatic changes in the Jomon era made plant f ood an unstable f ood supply f or the Jomon people, especially for those who lived on the northern boundary of the exploited flora. It is concluded that while the plant food supply fluctuated with climatic changes, sea mammal hunting became a more stable food supply after the Middle Jomon period. In this sense, sea mammal hunting was an important adaptation to the cold environment for the Jomon people in Hokkaido.