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Methodology

Working Packages

WP1 will focus on the reconstruction of Jomon and Yayoi population dynamics using a variety of new and old techniques, including summed probability distribution of radiocarbon dates, aoristic analysis and Monte-Simulation of dwelling data, and juvenility index from skeletal data. 

WP2 will assess the dietary and economic impact of rice and millet agriculture following its introduction. It will analyse organic residues from cooking vessels, tracking their change in time in different parts of the archipelago.

WP3 is dedicated to the synthesis and the spatial analysis of the rich material culture of the Jomon and the Yayoi periods. It will cross-examine the spatial extent of different cultural traditions and their evolution before, during, and the after the Jomon-Yayoi transition.

WP4 will examine the environmental settings of the Jomon-Yayoi transition, modelling the background landcover changes during mid-late Holocene and reconstructing the suitability and the productivity of rice and millets in different parts of the Japanese archipelago.

WP5 - Spread of Rice and Millets

WP5 will investigate the spatial diffusion of rice (Oryza sativa), broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) and foxtail millet (Setaria japonica), synthesising the available archaeobotanical evidence and identifying regions of slower, partial, and temporary adoption.

WP6 will integrate and synthesise the different research themes explored in the other five packages and identify the key drivers of regional variation in the Jomon-Yayoi transition.

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Hypothesisesd timing of the spread of wet-rice farming (from Kobyashi, K. 2009 Kinkichihoito no chiiki he no kakusan. in: Nishimoto, T. (Eds.). Yayoi-jidai no hajimari to sono nendai, Yuzankaku, Tokyo, pp. 55–82. 

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