The primary study on landscape reconstruction and the position of the subsistence in the society from the Yayoi period to Medieval times

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This study aims to elucidate the attributes of an association between the subsistence (farming) and society from the Yayoi period to Medieval period on the Okayama Plains, having geographical unity.Reconstructing the landscape, we applied geo-historic materials as well as archaeological resources and plant remains, to the method. The landscape in each period has been reconstructed with considering the transition of the pattern of land use, in particular land for settlements and farming, and with considering the geographical features in which the settlements and paddies were located. Seeking the characteristics of the landscape in each period has been intended by the reconstruction.In the early stage of the Yayoi period small settlements lay on a few habitable areas available. From the middle to the late stage, the number of settlement rose that alluvial plains were formed. It is identified that the improvement of agricultural technology and the expansion of arable areas enabled to yield higher productivity and to maintain the population growth during the Yayoi period. Differences in settlement pattern between two areas on the plains can be identified by the reconstructed landscape. The environmental constrains might have caused the differences in the pattern. The differences in the settlement pattern are recognized to influence the social structure, which is significant to study the background of raising regional distinctions from the late stage of the Yayoi to the Kofun period.We explored from archaeological resources and geo-historic materials that the landscape from the Heian period to Medieval times were formed by Zyori-sei, land rezoning system, which led to the landscape in the modern age. The landscape in this period indicates that the land use pattern was ruled by the social management system whereas the land use in the Yayoi period was influenced by topology.