open access

https://doi.org/10.14943/112870

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/94439

The age of introduction and spread of wheat and barley to the Japanese archipelago

日本語

2025-03-31

北海道大学大学院文学研究院考古学研究室

Bulletin of the Laboratory of Archaeology, Hokkaido University

4

63-75

In this study, we discussed the timing of the introduction and spread of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) to the Japanese archipelago based on 14C dating. As a result of analyzing archaeological sites, mainly in the Kanto region, we were unable to confirm any evidence of wheat or barley dating back to the Yayoi period. It was discovered that all of the wheat and barley found in the Yayoi periods remains were the result of contamination from later periods. The oldest date for wheat comes from materials excavated from the Takeda Ishidaka site in Ibaraki Prefecture and the Saragun Jori site in Osaka Prefecture, dating to the middle of the Kofun period. There is no date of barley going back to the Yayoi period, and the oldest dating evidence is from the first half of the Heian period. Previous studies have suggested that wheat and barley were introduced at the same time as rice (Oryza sativa subsp. japonica), foxtail millet (Setaria italica), and broomcom millet (Panicum miliaceum) during the initial Yayoi period and quickly spread. The results of this analysis suggest that, at least in eastern Japan, wheat is likely to have become widespread during the middle of the Kofun period, while barley became widespread slightly later. Although it will be necessary to wait for more data to be accumulated from western Japan, we should at least be cautious when discussing wheat and barley as spreading in the same way as rice. In addition, even in cases where soil samples were washed and sorted from the same or similar contexts, the ages varied depending on the type of charred grains. Most of the contaminated wheat and barley dated to the Medieval and Early Modern periods. Analysis of the Yayoi period in the Kanto region has shown that small amounts of wheat and barley excavated along with large amounts of rice tend to be contaminated from later periods. Our study is also significant insofar as it demonstrates the pitfall of discussing the ages of minuscule relics such as charred grains without first conducting 14C dating.

紀要論文

Version of Record

2436-5874