Diet of the Kuril Ainu as Evidenced from Charred Materials Adhering to Ceramic Surfaces

• Main Author: TAKASE, Katsunori
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University
• Subjects: 900; Kamchatka
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2115/77453; https://doi.org/10.14943/jgsl.15.37

The Kuril Ainu are the indigenous people of the Northern and Central Kuril Islands and also occupied Southern Kamchatka from the mid-15th to late 17th centuries according to recent archaeological studies. Although ethnographic documents have indicated that seafood, particularly the meat and fat of sea mammals, was the most important component of their diet, few studies have investigated this. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to gain a better understanding of their diet by undertaking stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of charred materials adhering to the surfaces of clay pans. We found that cooked meals consisted of seafood mixed with herbivores and/or C3 plants, supporting the information provided in ethnographic documents. We also determined that the radiocarbon dates of the charred materials from the pottery surfaces were 280 to 600 years older than those of wood charcoal samples from the same cultural layers as the pottery due to the marine reservoir effect. Further examination of the radiocarbon dates of marine animals such as shellfishes and fishes collected from the same sites will contribute to studies on the marine reservoir offset in this region.