A study of the relative and absolute chronology of the Middle and Late Yayoi period

这项研究的目的如下：a)研究不同类型的测年材料，特别是附着在锅、烧焦的种子和人类骨骼表面的烟尘，在AMS测年结果中可能造成的差异的性质；和b)比较不同类型年代材料的AMS测年结果与从亚洲大陆和朝鲜半岛进口的绝对可测年文物(如汉青铜镜)的TPQ(即Terminus Post Quem)确定的一些弥合中晚期的绝对日期。值得注意的结果如下：1)通过研究从这两个地区出土的相同类型的陶器，对各个年代阶段之间的同代性进行严格的交叉核对，九州北部和Setouchi-Kansai地区的相对年代阶段大致是同时代的，除从弥合中晚期到弥合晚期的过渡阶段外，在九州北部弥合末期的上半期的后半段开始的时候，Setouchi-关西地区弥合末期的第一阶段开始。2)从九州地区北部弥合末期的上半叶下半段出土的文物的TPQ被确定为公元50年至公元75年，这对被广泛接受的Setouchi-Kansai地区弥合末期开始的日期的有效性提出了一个严重的问题。3)烧焦种子的AMS测年结果显示，比从亚洲大陆进口的文物的TPQ确定的日期要早得多。前文提到的九州北部地区弥合晚期上半部分的时间为公元50年至公元75年，而从烧焦的种子中获得的日期约为公元11年。这使得对不同测年材料可能造成的差异进行进一步的研究是绝对必要的。

The objectives of this research were as follows:a) to examine the nature ofpossible dating material-caused discrepancies in the outcomes of the AMS dating of different types of dating materials, particularly soot adhering to the surface of pots, charred seeds and human bones;andb) to compare the outcomes of the AMS dating of different types of dating materials with some absolute dates of the Middle and Late Yayoi periods determined by the TPQ (i. e., Terminus Post Quem) of imported absolute-datable artifacts (e. g. Han Bronze mirrors) from Mainland Asia and the Korean peninsulaThe notable outcomes are as follows:1) From a rigorous cross-checking of contemporaneity between individual chronological stages by examining same types of pots excavated from the both regions, the relative chronological stages of the northern Kyushu and Setouchi-Kansai regions are roughly contemporaneous stage by stage, except the transitional stages from the Middle to the Late Yayoi where the first stage of the Late Yayoi period of the Setouchi-Kansai region began sometime during the later half of the first half of the Late Yayoi of the northern Kyushu region.2) The TPQ of the artifacts excavated from burial jars dated to the second half of the first half of the Late Yayoi of the northern Kyushu region has been determined to date from AD 50~AD 75, and this poses a serious question to the validity of the widely accepted date for the beginning of the Late Yayoi of the Setouchi-Kansai region to be around 1 AD.3) The outcomes of the AMS dating of charred seeds show considerably earlier dates than what are determined from the TPQ of the imported artifacts from Mainland Asia. The date of the second half of the first half of the Late Yayoi of the northern Kyushu region, as mentioned, dates from AD 50~AD 75, whereas the dates obtained from the charred seeds are around 1AD. This makes further researches into possible discrepancies caused by different dating materials of absolute necessity.