Making sense of small seeds: Cultural complexity of Jomon hunter-gatherers and changes in plant exploitation at Sannai Maruyama

This study examines patterns of plant utilization at the prehistoric Sannai Maruyama site in northeastern Japan. Macrobotanical data were collected from waterlogged midden layers dating to the latter half of the Early Jomon Period (approximately 5900 to 5350 cal BP).; Two alternative subsistence strategies are considered by which hunter-gatherers can increase production in relation to the spatial variability in resource distribution. The first hypothesis assumes utilizing a large number of resource types. This is expected when the distribution of critical resources is spatially homogeneous. The second hypothesis assumes exploiting a large number of procurement locations. This occurs when the same variable is spatially heterogeneous. These two alternative hypotheses were tested using seed assemblages from three Early Jomon phases. The results indicate that people at the Sannai Maruyama site did not collect a diverse range of plant resources. Rather, they were exploiting a large number of procurement locations. In other words, the residents adopted a strategy that was closer to the second hypothesis. Based on the assumption that the staple foods sought by prehistoric hunter-gatherers in East Asia were various species of nuts, including chestnuts (Castanea crenata) and acorns (Quercus), it is suggested that the distributional patterns of these nut-bearing trees around the site affected people's subsistence strategies.; Although seed assemblage diversity at Sannai Maruyama remained relatively low throughout the Early Jomon period, the types of targeted plants changed significantly through time. Analysis of seed assemblages from three Early Jomon phases indicates that herbaceous and weedy plants became increasingly dominant through time at the expense of trees. Examination of characteristics of seed assemblage composition at each of the three phases reveals changing patterns of plant utilization at the site. Temporal changes across the seed assemblages are discussed in relation to anthropogenic disturbance of vegetation around the settlement.