Human responses to the Younger Dryas in Japan

Abstract

The effect of the Younger Dryas cold reversal on the survival of Late Glacial hunter-gatherers in the Japanese Archipelago is evaluated, through a synthetic compilation of 14C dates obtained from excavated Late Glacial and initial Holocene sites (332 14C dates from 88 sites). The estimated East Asian monsoon intensity and vegetation history based on the loess accumulations in varved sediments and pollen records in and around the Japanese Archipelago suggest an abrupt change to cool and dry climate at the onset of Younger Dryas, coupled with the Dansgaard-Oeschger Cycles as recorded in Greenland. The chronometric placement of sites based on an assessment of 14C dates show that the site numbers decrease from the Bølling-Allerød to Younger Dryas and increase from the Younger Dryas to Preboreal. However, human population dynamics inferred from a site distribution analysis was little changed from the previous Bølling-Allerød and to the following Preboreal. Moreover, hunter-gatherers consistently employed ceramic pottery technology since its emergence prior to the onset of Younger Dryas, while the quantity of ceramic vessels that were undermined during the Younger Dryas dramatically increased at the onset of the Holocene, implying that a substantial change in hunter-gatherer socioeconomy occurred after the end of Younger Dryas. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.