Maritime Prehistory of Northeast Asia: With a Foreword by Dr. William W. Fitzhugh (The Archaeology of Asia-Pacific Navigation, 6)

This book addresses a void in the synthetic archaeological knowledge of the North Pacific by enabling a more informed evaluation of North Pacific Rim seafaring hypotheses. It answers questions about intra- and inter-regional relationships in the evolution of maritime adaptations throughout the region. The authors collectively address evidence of aquatic activities during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in the Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk and adjacent coastal areas of Korea, Japan, Sakhalin Island, the Kurile Islands and the Russian Far East with syntheses placing the region into a larger North Pacific context. This examination provides essential data on human modes of terrestrial adaptation and the transition to maritime lifeways over the last 40,000 years. It also provides a much-needed foundation to better understand the peopling of the New World 17,000 years ago, either by a pedestrian transit or through the use of watercraft, or more likely a combination of the two. As one of the first publications on the prehistory of the maritime region of Northeast Asia provided in English, with contributions by leading Korean, Japanese, Russian, Canadian, European and US-based researchers of the region, this volume presents a means for archaeologists to assess proposed hypotheses pertaining to late Pleistocene and Holocene seafaring around the North Pacific Rim. It is an essential read for specialists in history, archaeology, behavioural ecology and maritime evolution. Foreword: Northeast Asia Prehistory “In the Twinkling of an Eye” 6 Contents 16 Introduction 18 The Peopling of Northeast Asia’s Maritime Region and Implications of Early Watercraft Transport 19 1 Introduction 20 2 Theoretical Context 21 3 Ecological Perspective 23 3.1 Technological Innovations 25 4 Northeast Asian Terrestrial Context During the Late Pleistocene 27 5 Northeast Asian Maritime Context During the Late Pleistocene 32 6 Conclusions 36 References 37 Korea and Japan 43 Maritime Prehistory of Korea: An Archaeological Review 44 1 Introduction 45 2 The Paleolithic 47 2.1 Upper Paleolithic Adaptations 47 2.2 Environmental and Geographical Change 48 2.3 Maritime Exchange Networks During the Last Glacial From 49 2.4 Post-glacial Adaptations and the Gosan-Ri Site Early 50 3 Maritime Adaptation in the Chulmun Period 51 3.1 The Emergence of Maritime Adaptation in the Early Chulmun While 52 3.2 Aquatic Resource Exploitation in the Late Chulmun Around 56 4 Regional Interaction in the Mumun and Proto-Three Kingdoms Periods 57 4.1 The Mumun Period During 58 4.2 The Proto-Three Kingdoms Period Around 59 5 Conclusion 60 References 61 Over the Water, Into and Out of the Japanese Archipelago, During the Pleistocene: Humans, Obsidian, and Lithic Techniques 66 1 Introduction 66 2 Skeletal Remains of Palaeolithic Hominids 68 3 Obsidian Procurement 73 4 Lithic Technologies 75 4.1 Early Palaeolithic 75 4.2 Late Palaeolithic I (40–30 Ka BP) 76 4.3 Late Palaeolithic II (30–16/10 Ka BP) 77 5 Summary and Conclusions 81 References 83 Synthetic Perspective on Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Adaptations and Landscape Change in Northern Japan 87 1 Introduction 88 2 Regional Setting 88 2.1 Geography and Topography 88 2.2 Natural Environment 90 3 Late Palaeolithic Environmental Adaptation Models in the Southern Paleo-SHK 92 3.1 Chronology 92 3.2 Residential Mobility and Site Occupation 95 4 Emergence of the Earliest Pottery and the Beginning of Neolithic/Jomon Culture 99 4.1 Hokkaido in the Last Glacial Period: The Emergence of Pottery 99 4.2 Adaptation Models for Early Holocene Hokkaido: Establishment of a Pottery Culture and a Change in Lithic Industries 100 5 Discussion and Conclusion 103 References 104 Globalization and the Historical Evolution of Japanese Fisheries 110 1 Introduction 110 2 The Seven Fishery Stages 114 3 Globalization and Change in Japanese Fisheries 126 References 129 Inland Seas of Japan/Korea and Okhotsk 136 Stone Age People in the Insular World: Stability and Migrations on Sakhalin, Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands 137 1 Introduction 138 2 Initial Settlement of the Insular World of the Far East 138 2.1 Homo sapiens and Their Pathways into the Insular World of the Far East 138 2.2 A Scenario of Events in the Quaternary Period 139 3 Paleolithic 142 3.1 Flora and Fauna of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) 142 3.2 Periodization of the Paleolithic of Sakhalin Island 142 3.3 The Origin of Upper Paleolithic Industries of the Paleo-SHK 146 4 The Neolithic Period in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands 147 4.1 Incipient Neolithic Versus Post Paleolithic 147 4.2 Sites, Environment, Economy, and Lifestyle of the Initial (11–9 ka BP) and Early Neolithic (9–7.2 ka BP) 148 4.3 Innovations of the Neolithic 152 5 Migration and Mobility in the Insular Part of Northeast Asia 155 5.1 Modeling Behavior 155 5.2 Environment, as an Objective Cause and Driving Factor of Movement 156 5.3 Rhythms of the Environment and Society as a Reason for Migration 157 5.4 Expansion 158 5.5 Periodic Migrations as a Type of Adaptative Behavior 159 5.6 Catastrophe as a Cause of Migration 160 6 Eco-social System. Stability and Migration 162 References 163 The Origins of Aquatic Lifestyles along the Zerkalnaya and Rudnaya Rivers on the Northern Sea of Japan, Primorye Region, Russian Far East 167 1 Introduction 168 2 Ustinovka Complex 170 2.1 Late Pleistocene 172 2.2 Early Holocene 174 3 Rudnaya Neolithic Complex 176 3.1 Rudnaya-Pristan Site 177 3.2 Chertova Vorota Cave Site 178 4 Conclusions 188 References 189 Seagoing Watercraft in the Context of Marine Adaptations in Peter the Great Bay, Primorye Region, Russian Far East 193 1 Introduction 193 2 Paleogeography and Fish Procurement in Peter the Great Bay 194 3 Conclusions 202 References 203 Ancient Sea Fishing in Southern Primorye, Russian Far East, During the Neolithic and Early Iron Age 205 1 Introduction 205 2 Neolithic Boisman Archaeological Culture 206 3 Early Iron Age. Yankovskaya Archaeological Culture 214 4 Conclusions 218 References 218 Seafaring in the Bohai State 220 1 Introduction 220 2 Environment and Climate 222 3 Population, and the Emergence of the State of Bohai 223 3.1 Seafaring in the Sea of Japan/Korea in the Sixth–Seventh Centuries 225 3.2 Yanzhou (Kraskinskoye Walled Town) as a Maritime Gateway to the Bohai 226 3.3 Bohai-Japan Diplomatic Missions 231 3.4 Marine Resources in the Bohai Economy 233 4 Discussion and Conclusion 235 References 237 Kamchatka and Chukotka 241 Technological Similarities Between 13 ka Stemmed Points from Ushki V, Kamchatka, Russian Far East, and the Earliest Stemmed Points in North America 242 1 Introduction 243 2 Background 244 3 Methods 247 4 Results 248 4.1 Standard Dimensional and Dimensionless Attributes 256 4.2 Novel GLiMR Measurements 259 4.3 Blade Curve Shape 260 4.4 Cross-Sections and Thickness 260 4.5 2D and 3D Landmark Analyses 261 5 Discussion 263 5.1 Chronology 263 5.2 Comparison to American Upper Paleolithic Stemmed Points 264 5.3 Larger Implications of the Single Beveled Blade Design 264 6 Summary 265 References 266 From Continent to Continent: Proposed Pathways and Vehicles of Human Travel from Kamchatka to America in Ancient Times 271 1 Introduction 272 2 Regional Setting 277 2.1 Geography 277 2.2 Ice Conditions 277 2.3 Tephrochronology 278 3 Chronology and Features of the Settlement of Kamchatka by Ancient Man and Evidence of the Use of Transport Vehicles 279 3.1 Late Pleistocene 279 3.2 The Holocene 282 3.3 The Ancient Itel ́men Culture (1.2–1.7 ka CE) 289 4 Vehicles for Human Transport in Ethnographic and Historical Descriptions 290 5 Discussion 291 References 293 The Onset of Maritime Adaptations in Eastern Chukotka and the Emergence of Marine Economies and Seafaring Activities Between 8000 and 3500 years Before Present 299 1 Introduction 299 2 Environment and Climate 300 3 Archaeological Sites in Eastern Chukotka Between 8 and 3.5 ka BP 303 3.1 Naivan I Site 303 3.2 The Un’en’en Settlement 306 3.3 Nunligran 3 312 3.4 Nunligran 4 314 3.5 Khuiweem 1 Site 315 4 Discussion 315 5 Conclusion 319 References 320 Tracking the Adoption of Early Pottery Traditions into Maritime Northeast Asia: Emerging Insights and New Questions 322 1 Introduction 323 2 Establishing Geographic and Chronological Frames of Reference 325 2.1 Defining Major Pottery Dispersal Zones 326 2.2 Defining Four Primary Chronozones: Early Pottery and Maritime Adaptations 326 2.3 Major Climatic and Environmental Developments 328 2.4 Tracking Associations: Pottery Dispersals and Emergent Maritime Adaptations 329 3 Tracking Regional Developments: Pottery Dispersals into Northeast Asia and Alaska 329 3.1 Origins and Initial Expansion: Late Glacial—Early Holocene Pottery (Central Belt) 332 3.2 Mid-Holocene Expansion of Pottery Traditions (Northern Interior) 336 3.3 Delayed Pottery Expansions—Northern Coastlines 341 4 Discussion and Conclusions 346 References 348 Conclusions 353 The Paleolithic of Maritime Northeast Asia and the Search for Maritime Beringians 354 1 Introduction 355 2 The Antiquity of Boating, Fishing and Hunting in Northeast Asia 356 2.1 Prelude: Contextualizing the Peopling of Maritime Northeast Asia 356 2.2 The Settlement of Temperate Maritime Northeast Asia 357 3 The Question of a Maritime Beringia 359 3.1 Genetic and Archaeological Evidence 359 3.2 Could Coastal Environments of Subarctic Northeast Asia Support Maritime Settlement in the LGM? 363 3.3 Evidence Supporting a Maritime Beringia and Locating Its Origins 368 3.4 What Happened to the Maritime Beringians? 371 4 Conclusion and Research Outlook 374 References 378 Maritime Prehistory of Northeast Asia: Overview and Outlook 384 1 Introduction 385 2 The Onset of Maritime Adaptations and the Maritime Neolithic 386 2.1 The Deglacial Interval and Earliest Holocene (17–9 ka) 388 2.2 Coastal Settlement and the Emergent Maritime Neolithic (9–7 ka) 398 2.3 Transformations in Maritime Activities in the Middle Holocene (7 ka- 4 ka) 404 3 Northeast Asia and the Expanding World System (4 ka to 0 ka) 408 4 Conclusion and Outlook 417 References 422