Archaeological data on the use and role of water transport in the earliest cultures of the Japanese archipelago

This study examines direct and indirect archaeological evidence on the use of water transport and its role on Japanese Archipelago in the Stone Age-Late Paleolithic (35,000-14,000 BP) and Jomon period (14,000-2400 BP). Currently, the time of the initial settlement on the archipelago by the Homo sapiens is established as 35,000-33,000 BP. All simulated migration routes from East Asia (Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, Russian Far East) to the Japanese Islands involve crossing of straits or open sea areas. Archaeologists have not yet found any remains of boats or rafts from the Late Paleolithic or Incipient and Initial Jomon, while 60 sites and about a hundred of such objects are known for the Early, Middle, Late, and Final Jomon period, with almost 80 % of allfinds belonging to the Late and Final Jomon period. All of Jomon boats belonged to flat-bottomed paddle canoe type and were made of the single trunk up to 8,5 m of length and up to 0,7 m of width, effective and comfortable on the sea, river, or lake. It has been suggested that water transport was widely used during Jomon period not only for transportation, communication, and fishing, but also in ritual and ceremonial contexts. It may be confidently assumed that specialized professional groups of ship-builders, boatmen-carriers, traders, fishermen, hunters of sea animals, and divers - living solely from exploitation and distribution of aquatic resources, emerged and became socially distinctive in the Jomon society.