Archaeological Explanation for the Diffusion Theoryof the Japonic and Koreanic Languages
MIYAMOTO Kazuo1
ABSTRACT

From a linguistic standpoint, it is assumed that the Japonic language family entered into the
Korean Peninsula and from there spread to the Japanese archipelago at the beginning of the
Yayoi period, around the 8th century BC, while the arrival of the Koreanic language family is
associated with the advent of the Korean-style bronze dagger culture around 5th century BC(Whitman 2011). Evidence of demic diffusion in archaeological events (Miyamoto 2014) indicatesthe result of a linguistic founders effect, because both Koreanic and Japonic are relatively
shallow language families (Whitman 2011). But Japonic has no vocabulary dedicated to rice
(Whitman 2011). There is some contradiction between the absence of rice vocabulary in Japonic
and the demic diffusion of rice farmers in the archeological evidence. In this paper, I would liketo resolve this contradiction by offering a new explanation for the demic diffusion of Mumun
culture, which possessed a Japonic language, on the Korean peninsula.
KEYWORDS: Yayoi culture, Jomon Culture, Yusu type pottery, Itatsuke type pottery, pottery
production technique, Mumun culture, Pianpu culture, the Yan states, the Yinjiacun second stage,
Japonic language, Koreanic langugae

1.

Introduction

The author subscribes to the demic diffusion theory that there were four stages ofdevelopment of agriculture in Northeast Asia (Figure 1, Table 1, Table 2) during
prehistoric times (Miyamoto 2014). The ﬁrst stage involved the spread of millet
agriculture to the Korean Peninsula and to the southern Russian Far East (sRFE) inthe middle of the fourth millennium BC (Figure 2). The second stage was the spreadof wet-rice agriculture from the Shandong Peninsula to the Liaodong Peninsula in thelatter half of the 3rd millennium BC. SEM silicon analysis on pottery indicated theearliest existence of rice in this period in the southern Liaodong Peninsula (Figure 3).
At the same time, the Pianpu culture, located on the eastern Liaoxi district, diffused to
Liaodong district and replaced the Wujiacun culture, which was originally distributed
there. The subsistence system of the Pianpu culture was based on the same millet
1 c/o Faculty of Humanities, Kyushu University, 6–19–1 Hakozaki, Hogashi Ward, Fukuoka 821–8581,

Japan (miyamoto@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp)
Category: Original Article Received: 29 March 2016; Accepted: 11 July 2016
JAPANESE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 4 (2016): 53–75

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

Figure 1.

Four stages theory of agriculturalization in northeast Asia

Table 1.

Cultural change in the four stages of agricultural development in Northeast Asia
Stage 1

Stage 2Time
Cropc.3300 BC
milletc.2400 BC
wet-rice

Tools

Stone mortar andpestle, hoe
NW KorPen
KorPen, sRFE

pol. stone axe,adze, reaper
Shandong P.
Liaodong P.

ChulmunMiddle western
KorPenSouthern KorPen
Early Neolithic
Korea
Horticulture

PianpuEastern Liaoxi
district
Liaodong
Wujiacun culture

From
To
CultureFrom
To
ReplacingSociety

Millet farmer© Japanese Archaeological Association

54

Stage 3c.1500 BC
irrig. wet-rice,
millet, wheat
pol. stone axe,adze, reaper
Shandong P.
Liaodong P.
>KorPen
Mumun
Liaodong
Southern KorPen
Final Neolithic
Korea
Rice farmer andrise of chiefs

Stage 48c BC
irrig. wet-ricepol. stone adze,reaperSouthern KorPen
N. Kyushu
Yayoi
Southern KorPen
Northern Kyushu
Jomon
Rice farmer

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

Table 2.
Dating
BC5000BC4000BC3000BC2000BC1500BC1000BC450

Prehistoric chronology of North-east Asia

Central Plains
Beligang
Baongbo
ShijiaMiodigou
Bangbo 4
Miaodigou 2
Wanwang 3
Xinzhai
Earlitou
Earligang
Yinxu
Western Zhou

Liaodon PeninsulaSouth Korea

Northern Kyushu

Agriculturalization

Initial Jomon
Shaozhushan lower
Shaozhushan middle
Wujiacun
PianpuShaozhushan upper
Shuangtuozi 1
Shuangtuozi 2

Xinle lower

Shangmashi A
Shangmashi B2Warring states

Yinjiacun 2

Houwa lower
Houwa Upper

Initial Neolithic
Chitamri

Machengzi
PianpuGaotaishan

Shuangtuozi 3

Spring Autumn

Figure 2.

Liaohe lower Yalujiang lower Western Korea

Mintuozi
Songhakri 1
Songhakri 2
Sinamri 1

Zhengjiawazi

First
Middle Jomon
SecondNamkyeong 1 Late Neolothic
Namkyeong 2 Final Neolithic
Late Jomon
Paengni 1

Sinamri 2
Xinle upper

Kimtamri 1

Early Jomon
Early Neolithic
Middle Neolithic

Singamri 3
Misongri upper
Mobangri

Initial Mumun
Early Mumun

Third

Final Jomon
Paengni 2
Paengni 3
Paengni 4,5

Konyol style pottery
Hyuamri
Songgunni
Jeomtoodae pottery

Fourth
Early Yayoi
Initial Yayoi

The ﬁrst stage of agriculturalization in northeast Asia
© Japanese Archaeological Association

55

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

Figure 3.

The second stage of agriculturalization in northeast Asia

agriculture as that of the previous period. The third stage, in the middle of the second
millennium BC, involved a renewed spread of agriculture associated with new polishedstone tools, such as the reaping knife and ﬂat stone adze. The third agricultural system
consisted of irrigated wet (rice) and dry (millet, wheat etc.) ﬁelds and spread from the
Shandong Peninsula through the Liaodong Peninsula to the Korean Peninsula (Figure 4).
Finally, the fourth stage involved the spread of irrigated agriculture from the southern
Korean Peninsula to northern Kyushu, Japan, beginning about the 8th century BC. Thesefour stages were triggered by immigrants due to cooler climatic conditions and thedevelopment of farming society. Thus, every stage of this demic diffusion was coincident
with cooler climatic conditions.
Irrigated agriculture on the Korean Peninsula was triggered by the third phase of
agriculture in northeast Asia; it began stably in the early period of Mumun Culture,and the population density was increasing. In addition, large settlements and chieftain
graves began to appear, a result of the expansion of agricultural production. In thisphase, cooler climatic conditions led to a small number of Mumun immigrants movingfrom the southern Korean Peninsula by demic expansion theory into northern Kyushu
in search of new land for agriculture. These immigrants mixed with the Jomon people
in northern Kyushu, following which the Yayoi culture emerged in this area, marked by
the establishment of the Yusu 1 style of the Initial Yayoi in northern Kyushu (Miyamoto© Japanese Archaeological Association

56

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

Figure 4.

The third stage of agriculturalization in northeast Asia

2011).
The physical differences between the Jomon and Yayoi in northern Kyushu are veryclear, with Yayoi people in northern Kyushu being physically similar to continental(Mumun) people. The immigrants from southern Korea mixed with native Jomon people
in northern Kyushu, and the resulting Yayoi people gradually became dominant in thisarea. At the beginning of Yayoi culture from 8th to 6th centuries BC in northern Kyushu,
they possessed paddy rice ﬁelds, a form of irrigated agriculture, new polished agricultural
tools like reaping stone knives, and a different pottery style including technical changes
to the way pottery was made. In addition, circular moated settlements and new burial
customs like dolmens and wooden cofﬁn burials emerged.
Although immigrants and the inﬂuence of Mumun culture were very importantfactors in the transitional time between Jomon and Yayoi from 8th to 6th centuries BC,
immigrants did not spread from the Korean Peninsula to northern Kyushu on just one
single occasion. Periods of cooler climatic conditions indicated by the efﬁciency of 14C
production have been identiﬁed as follows: 900 BC, 850–700 BC and 670 BC (Imamura& Fujio 2009). Cooler climatic conditions between 850 and 700 BC led to the most
efﬁcient production of 14C, and the duration of coolness was the longest among three
periods of cooler climates. These cooler climatic conditions triggered several movementsof immigrants from the southern Korean Peninsula.
© Japanese Archaeological Association

57

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

2.

The emergence mumun pottery in Korea

The second agricultural stage at around 2400 BC involved the spread of rice from
Shandong Peninsula to southern Liaodong Peninsula. At the same time, the Pianpu
culture which originated from the eastern Liaoxi district spread to Liaodong district(Figure 3). In this cooler climate period, the cultural trend in the whole of northern
China had changed from a North–South connection to a West–East connection. At thesame time there emerged a similar style of pottery at the end of the Neolithic in the
Great Wall region, which includes central Inner Mongolia and Liaoxi districts. The
Xioaheyan culture in the Liaoxi district joined the same pottery style with those in the
Laohushan second period in central Inner Mongolia. The West–East connection in the
Great Wall region triggered the production of the Xiaoheyan culture in the Liaoxi district
and the spread of the Pianpu culture originating in the eastern Liaoxi district eastward to
the Liaodong district.
The Pianpu culture is divided into three phases: early, middle and late (Chen & Chen
1992). The early phase of Pianpu culture is distributed in the east of Liaoxi disticit
according to the pottery chronology. However, the Wujiacun period of the middle
layer of Shaozhushan culture is distributed in the Liaodong district, peripheral to the

Figure 5.

Changes in site distribution in the Pianpu culture© Japanese Archaeological Association

58

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

distribution of the Pianpu culture (Figure 5-1). the middle and late Pianpu culture
replaced the Wujiacun and spread to the Liaodong district and the northwestern Korean
Peninsula (Figure 5-2). There, the Pianpu culture inﬂuenced the Chulmun pottery of
the northwestern Korean Peninsula, adding a new type of pottery (a necked jar) in the
Chulmun pottery sequence (Figure 6). The necked jar inﬂuenced by the Pianpu culture
consisted of Chulmun pottery Namkyeong 1 and Namkyeong 2 of the ﬁnal Neolithic
period on the western Korean Peninsula (Figure 7). This incident was also accorded tothe second stage of agriculturalization of northeastern Asia in c. 2400 BC.
During this second stage, cultural inﬂuence from the Shandong Peninsula on the
Liaodong Peninsula is also recognized in the Xiaozhushan upper layer culture in thesouthern Liaodong Peninsula, especially in the stone tools and black pottery. It is believedthat rice agriculture spread to the southern edge of the Liaodong Peninsula based on
the archaeological evidence of the rice kernel stamp on the pottery in Wenjiatun and
Wangjiacun sites, Dalian, identiﬁed by SEM silicon analysis on pottery. This occurred at
the same time as the Pianpu culture spread from the eastern Liaoxi district to Liaodong
and northwestern Korean Peninsula (Figure 3).

Figure 6.

The transitional process of pottery between Chulmun and Paengni form pottery© Japanese Archaeological Association

59

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

Figure 7.

The spread of the Pianpu culture and it’s inﬂuence to the peripheral area

However, a time gap exists of about 900 years between the second stage of
agriculturalization and the beginning of Mumun pottery on the southern Korean
Peninsula at c. 1500 BC. On the northwestern Korean Peninsula, the inﬂuence of the
Pianpu culture combined with Namkyeong Chulmun pottery to establish the Paengni
form of pottery in the Mumun culture (Figure 7). In contrast, in the north-central Korean
Peninsula, the inﬂuence of Pianpu culture produced the Gonggwiri pottery type (No.1dwelling of the Simgwiri site) in the middle and upper valley of the Yalu River (Figure
8-1, 2). This Gonggwiri type directly evolved into the band-rim pottery of the initial
Mumun pottery period on the southern Korean Peninsula (Figure 8-3, 4).
Mumun pottery on the Korean Peninsula was established when the pottery styles of
the adjacent areas changed to those of the Pianpu culture through the process of diffusion
and the inﬂuence on these areas by the Pianpu culture (Figure 7). Therefore, new pottery
production techniques which were used in Pianpu cultural pottery were introduced to
Mumun pottery by way of the Pianpu cultural inﬂuence on Gonggwiri type pottery.
However, the transformation of these pottery styles took much time—around 900 years—
and the beginning of the Mumun pottery culture started at c. 1500 BC on the southern
Korean Peninsula. This is the point at which irrigated agriculture such as rice cultivation
along with polished stone tools spread from Shandong Peninsula to the southern Korean
Peninsula by way of the Liaodong Peninsula (Figure 4). Therefore, the establishmentof the Mumun pottery culture in southern Korea consisted of a dual situation in that it
formed from the foundations of such things as the Pianpu culture of the second stage of
agriculturalization in Northeast Asia, but it was established by changes to the subsistence
activities of the third stage of northeastern agriculturalization.
© Japanese Archaeological Association

60

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

Figure 8. The transitional process of pottery between Gonggwiri type and banded pottery on the
Korean peninsula

The earliest Mumun pottery in southern Korea is band-rim pottery in the incipient
Mumun culture period from around 1500 BC. Band-rim pottery is supposed to be related
to Gonggwiri pottery of the north-central Korean peninsula (Ahn 2010, Bae 2011),
because of similarities in pottery designs and house plans, etc. So the Gonggwiri typepottery is believed to be related to band-rim pottery in the incipient Mumun culture insouthern Korea. But the origin of the pottery production techniques of Mumun pottery,such as a relatively wide clay slabs, laid with clay slabs attached from the outside (Figure9), and being smoothed with a wooden edge (Figure 10) and ﬁried in a primitive clay
kiln were not identiﬁed in the Neolithic pottery of Chulmun.
© Japanese Archaeological Association

61

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

Figure 9.

Jomon, Yayoi and Mumun pottery

Figure 10.

Differences in smoothing techniques on pottery surfaces between the Jomon and Yayoi

3.

Shangmashi excavation

3a.

Relations between Pianpu and Mumun

Recently, we reanalyzed pottery from the Shangmashi shellmidden on the Liaodong
Peninsula, which was excavated by a Japanese scholar in 1941 (Miyamoto 2015). This
site covers from the early Neolithic to Bronze and early Iron Ages, except for Wujiacun
period of middle Neolithic period which was missing from the stratigraphy. We focusedon the production techniques of pottery found at this site. The analytical results show
the existence of four attributes of pottery production skills such as 1) slab-built using
relatively wide clay slabs, 2) attaching the clay slabs onto the exterior rather than interior
surface, 3) smoothing with a wooden edge, and 4) ﬁring the pottery in a primitive clay
kiln on the ground. It is quite interesting that these four particular attributes of pottery
production techniques are limited only to the Pianpu culture period in the chronologicalscheme from the Neolithic to the early Iron Age. Smoothing the clay surface witha wooden edge appears quite often in Pianpu culture pottery. The smoothing with a© Japanese Archaeological Association

62

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

wooden edge and ﬁring technique using the primitive clay kiln in the Pianpu culture arealso recognized at other sites besides the Shangmashi site. These results indicate that the
Pianpu culture is connected with the emergence of new pottery production techniquesin the Mumun pottery culture on the southern Korean Peninsula through the Gonggwiri
type pottery.

3b. From Bronze to Iron Age

Analysis of the Shangmashi shellmidden site (Miyamoto 2015) also indicated that thepottery types changed in the mid-ﬁrst millennium BC. A long-necked pot and clayrimmed jar from the Yinjiacun Bronze Age at the 6th to 5th century BC (Figure 11-3, 4)
was distributed Liaoxi to the Liaodong area (Figure 11). This new pottery came fromthe Liaodong Peninsula into the southern Korean Peninsula and developed into theJeomtodae pottery (rolled-rim vessels, Figure 11-6, 7) of the early Iron Age, signifyingthat people from the Liaodong Peninsula migrated southward into the Korean Peninsula.
The reason why the immigrants moved from Liaodong to the Korean Peninsula inorder to establish the Jeomtodae pottery (rolled rim vessel) culture was not due to thecooler climatic conditions. Rather, it was due to social and political reasons in society at
the time, as the Yan state, which is located in the Beijing area, invaded eastward beyond
the Yanshan Mountains. Yan made political contact with chieftains in the eastern Liaoxi
district, imposing the hegemony of the Yan state. The eastward movement of people fromthe eastern Liaoxi to Liaodong at the Yinjiacun second stage triggered another migrationfrom Liaodong to the Korean Peninsula. In this process, the Yinjiacun second stage
culture spread to the Korean Peninsula and led to the establishment of the Jeomtodae
pottery (rolled rim vessel) culture, which included the slender bronze dagger culture. At
this time, rice farming settlements disappeared from the archeological record (Ahn 2010).
This Jeomtodae pottery culture originating from eastern Liaoxi is clearly not associatedwith wet rice agriculture but with millet and wheat agriculture. This process resulted in alanguage change as well, as we shall see below. But ﬁrst, let us return to the inﬂuence ofthe Mumun culture on the Japanese archipelago.

4. Transformations in North Kyushu
The interaction of Mumun culture with northern Kyushu at the beginning of the ﬁrst
millennium BC triggered the beginnings of rice agriculture and the formation of the
Yayoi period in the Japanese archipelago. This is the fourth stage of agriculturalization innortheastern Asia, and Yayoi pottery was produced using pottery production techniquesthat had been transmitted from the Pianpu culture.
The transitional time from Jomon to Yayoi culture in northern Kyushu can be divided© Japanese Archaeological Association

63

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

Figure 11.

Spread of Jeomtodae pottery in northeast Asia

© Japanese Archaeological Association

64

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

Table 3.

Cultural change in the transition from Jomon to Yayoi

Phase

Pottery

Language

Final Jomon
Initial Yayoi

Kurokawa
Yusu 1

Jomon
Jomon/Japonic

Initial Yayoi

Yusu 2Jomon/Japonic

New tools
Stone dagger type 1
Stone dagger type 2

Early Yayoi

Itatsuke 1

Japonic

Stone dagger type 2

Table 4.

Tools

Inﬂuence
Konyol rim punctates
KorPen south coast
KorPen Hoam/
YongnamBurials
Dolmens
Wood cofﬁns
Wood cofﬁns

Chronology of Tottaimon pottery during ﬁnal Jomon period in western Japan

Final Jomon

Initial Yayoi

Early Yayoi

Fukuoka Plain

Northern Kyushu

Seto Inland Sea

Kansai

Middle Kurokawa

Middle Kurokawa

Tanjiri

Shinohara

Latekurokawa(Osayuki)

Maeike(Agata)

Shigasato 4(Etsuji SX-1)(Etsuji SX-1)

Shigasato 4

Yusu 1

Yusu 1

Kuchizakae

Yusu 2aYusu 2aTsushima-Okadai

Yusu 2b

Yusu 2b

Sawada(*)

Yusu 2b/Itatsuke 1
Itatsuke 1

Yusu 2b/Itatsuke 1
Itatsuke 1

Hunahashi

Nagahara

into three phases which are in line with Tanaka & Osawa’s migration model. Tanaka& Ozawa (2001) suggested that there were three phases of interaction between the
Jomon and Mumun people from Final Jomon Kurokawa phase to Early Yayoi Itatsuke 1,
resulting in the emergence of the Yayoi people (Table 4). The dating of the emergenceof Yayoi is still controversial. But these phases are believed to represent the process ofgenetic integration between immigrants of the Mumun culture from the southern Korea
and the Jomon people in northern Kyushu. The transitional period between Jomon and
Early Yayoi in northern Kyushu took an estimated 300 years (Miyamoto 2012).
During the ﬁrst cool phase at around 10th century BC in the Kurokawa Jomon phase(Table 3), there is a period of brief contact between southern Korea and northern Kyushu.
Yoshiyuki Tanaka (1991) proposed that some migrants came from southern Korea tonorthern Kyushu during the Kurokawa period, based on archaeological evidence suchas a row of punctuations under the rim of Kurokawa pottery, which imitated the Konyol© Japanese Archaeological Association

65

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

Figure 12.

Changes in site distribution shown by kernel density between the Jomon and Yayoi

style pottery of Korea, and a reaping knife found at Nukigawa Site. This time is also
related to cooler climatic conditions dating to c. 900 BC. Rice probably spread to Kyushu
by this time at the latest, as indicated by evidence from SEM silicon analysis on pottery.
The archaeological site distribution on the Fukuoka Plains differs between the
Kurokawa and Yusu time periods, and there are very few sites in the intermediate term
between the two times. This change of archaeological site distribution is shown as theﬁgure indicated by GIS with the coefﬁcient of site densities (Figure 12). Archaeologicalsites at Kurokawa are located in the upper river basin or on hillsides (Figure 12-1). On
the other hand, the archaeological sites of Yusu are located in the lower river basin
or near coastlines (Figure 12-2, 3). This change in distribution of archaeological sites
indicates marine regression due to the cooler climatic conditions. I propose that this time
© Japanese Archaeological Association

66

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

Figure 13.

Transitions in the pottery chronology between the Jomon and Yayoi

of fewer site distributions coincided with the period when the climate was at its coolest,
dating to c. 800–750 cal. BC. The 14C production efﬁciency indicates cooler climaticconditions. During these cooler climatic conditions, the sea regressed and the alluvial fan
was stable in the lower river basin, where rice paddy ﬁelds were located.
Kurokawa Jomon pottery was transformed into Yusu pottery by the spread of banded
deep bowl culture [different from the band-rim Mumun pottery culture], originating in
the Eastern Seto (Inland Sea area or Kinki) area and gradually spreading westward tonorthern Kyushu, replacing the Kurokawa pottery of the Final Jomon as Yusu pottery of
Initial Yayoi. Yusu pottery consisted of a two-type series: a deep bowl based on Jomonand a necked jar based on Mumun culture (Figure 13). During Yusu 1 (c. 8th centuryBC) and Yusu 2 (c. 7–6th centuries), Mumun culture spread from two different locations
on the Korean Peninsula (Figure 14). Yusu 2 preceded the development of the Itatsuke(Early Yayoi) pottery style on the Fukuoka Plains, its initial location. Thus, at around the
5th century BC, Itatsuke pottery inﬂuenced by Mumun ceramics replaced the deep bowlsof the Jomon-style Yusu (Figure 13). In the following sections, the “transitional” period
refers to Yusu 1 and Yusu 2 time periods. Although they are considered Yayoi becauseof the presence of wet-rice agriculture, full-ﬂedged Yayoi culture did not coalesce until© Japanese Archaeological Association

67

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

Figure 14.

Processes of dual cultural spread from southern Korea

Itatsuke 1.
Not only the styles and sequences of pottery but also the pottery production techniques
differ between the Yayoi and Jomon. The same differences can be seen between
Neolithic pottery and Mumun pottery on the Korean Peninsula (Misaka 2012). Although
the necked jar was added through the inﬂuence of Mumun pottery culture during the
Yusu 1 type period, the deep bowl of the Jomon was still in use during the transitional
phase between the Jomon and Yayoi. The Itatsuke jar pottery was established during
the Itatsuke 1 period in the Early Yayoi (Figure 13). At this time, pottery production
techniques totally changed from the Jomon period (Yane 1984, 1997; Misaka 2014).
Relatively wide clay slabs were used to make Yayoi pottery, while relatively thin clay
coils were used in Jomon pottery (Figure 9). The slabs of Yayoi pottery were attachedon the outer surface of the previous slab, while the clay coils of Jomon pottery were laid
up attached to the inner surface of the vessel. Smoothing on the surface of Yayoi pottery
was conducted with edge of a piece of wood, while smoothing of pottery in the Final
Jomon was performed with a shell (Figure 10). Yayoi pottery was ﬁred in a primitive clay
kiln on the ground, while Jomon pottery was in an open space (Kobayashi et al. 2000).
These four attributes of different pottery production techniques clearly existed between
Jomon and Yayoi pottery. The four attributes of new pottery techniques for Yayoi pottery© Japanese Archaeological Association

68

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

were adopted from Mumun pottery (Yane 1984, 1997; Misaka 2014). It is interesting thatnew techniques for pottery production were not established in the Yusu type, which was
ﬁrstly inﬂuenced by Mumun culture, but in the Itatsuke type after the transitional period
between the Jomon and Yayoi. The Itatsuke type pottery after the transitional period
between Jomon and Yayoi at last was made by four attributes of new pottery production
technique which was transmitted from Pianpu culture by way of Mumun culture.
Additional cultural changes beyond ceramic styles are also apparent in the transition
from Jomon to Yayoi. Rice paddy ﬁelds, new pottery styles and new polished stone
tools are found on the Fukuoka Plains in Yusu 1 after the Kurokawa period. Then, acircular moat settlement was established at the time of Yusu 2. New burial customs likewooden cofﬁns started in the Fukuoka Plains around the time of Yusu 2 and Itasuke 1.
Cultural attributes were added gradually in the time period between Yusu 1 and Yusu
2. And at the time of Itatsuke 1, a fully-ﬂedged irrigated agricultural society was put inplace (Figure 12-4). Although the dolmens were established at the time of Yusu 1, theirdistributions were concentrated in the Karatsu and Itoshima Plains. However, wooden
cofﬁns were introduced from the Korean Peninsula to the Fukuoka Plains and thenspread eastward from there into other areas at the time of Yusu 2. Polished stone daggers
accompanied the wood cofﬁns as grave goods. Differences in the time of introduction
and distribution area between the dolmens and wood cofﬁns, along with differences inthe distribution area by type of polished stone dagger on the Korean Peninsula, indicate
the dual spread of culture from the Korean Peninsula (Miyamoto 2012). Thus, Yayoi
culture was established with the diffusion of Mumun culture (Figure 14).
With the establishment of Yayoi culture, an independent farming society of Japanesearchipelago was signiﬁed by the creation of the Itatsuke pottery style. The new farming
people of the Yayoi in northern Kyushu moved into the Seto Inland Sea and Kansai area,
where farming people and domestic Jomon people again mixed together.

5.

Language and cultural diffusion

5a.

Theoretical concerns

There are views that human dispersal in the prehistoric age is related with the spread of
agriculture. One such view is the famous hypothesis by Colon Renfrew (Renfrew 1987)
that the spread of Indo-European languages accompanied the diffusion of agriculture. He
demonstrated archaeologically that agriculture people whose homeland was south central
Anatolia spread to Greece by 7000–6500 BC. This dispersal continued until they reached
Europe to form a subgroup of the Indo-European languages. In addition, he also showedthat there was a large-scale exchange between migrant agricultural people and indigenous
Mesolithic people during 3000 years: from 7000 BC when the Indo-European languages© Japanese Archaeological Association

69

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

spread to Greece to 4000 BC when they spread to the British Isles (Renfrew 1987, 1999).
Peter Bellwood has also hypothesized that the spread of agriculture was similarly
linked with the spread of languages in East Asia (Bellwood 2005). According to thishypothesis, the Sino-Tibetan languages originated in the millet agriculture in the
middle basin of the Yellow River, and the Hmong-Mien language family of the rice
agriculturalists in the lower basin of the Yangtze River moved to south-east Asia to form
the Austroasiatic language family. In addition, the Tai language family of people of rice
agriculture in southern China moved to be a part of the Austroasiatic language family inSoutheast Asia.
The Japonic and Koreanic languages belong to the Altaic language family. These
languages are relatively shallow languages, and Japonic is earlier than Koreanic in
the chronological scheme (Unger 2009). The Koguryo toponymic data indicates thata language cognate to Japonic was spoken on the Korean Peninsula (Whitman 2011),
so Japonic languages are hypothesized to have originally been used on the Korean
peninsula (Whitman 2011, Vovin 2013). Lee and Hasegawa estimate a date of 2,182 BP
for the ancestor of proto-Japonic by using Bayesian phylogenic analysis based on lexical
data from 59 Japonic varieties (Lee & Hasegawa 2000). Because Japonic was spoken on
the Korean Peninsula, it is believed that the Mumun culture on the Korean Peninsula
and the Yayoi culture in the Japanese archipelago are both Japonic (Whitman 2011). It isbelieved by philologists that Japonic spread from the Korean Peninsula to the Japanesearchipelago at the beginning of the Yayoi period with demic diffusion (Whitman 2011,
Unger 2009, Vovin 2013). If this is true, Japonic was spoken by Yayoi people on theJapanese archipelago in the Yayoi period dating from the 8th century BC to the 3rd
century AD.

5b.

Archaeological explanation for the diffusion theory of Japonic languages

The question is, how and from where the Japonic language culture, which corresponds to
the Mumun pottery culture, entered the Korean Peninsula. In order to resolve this issue,
we need to focus on pottery production techniques to explain cultural contact which isunrelated to the spread of early agriculture.
First of all, where did Japonic languages originate from? Japonic languages were notcolored by the inﬂuence of rice agriculture. Japonic is believed not to have included
vocabulary dedicated to rice (Whitman 2011). The reason why there was no vocabulary
dedicated to rice in Japonic is due to the fact that Japonic probably originated in eastern
Liaoxi. The early Pianpu culture is mainly distributed in the eastern Liaoxi district(Figure 5-1). Because analysis of pottery production techniques suggests that Mumun
pottery originated from the Pianpu culture, Japonic is also supposed to have originatedfrom the Pianpu culture.
© Japanese Archaeological Association

70

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGESThe Mumun culture was inﬂuenced afterwards c. 1500 BC by rice agriculturalsocieties from the Shandong Peninsula through the Liaodong Peninsula, but it is assumed
that the Mumun continued to speak Japonic. This is the third stage of agriculturalizationin Northeast Asia. If Japonic languages spread to northern Kyushu via Mumun at thesame time as the spread of rice agriculture in the fourth stage of agriculturalization innortheastern Asia, one can suppose that the transition between Jomon and Yayoi is thesame as the transition in language between the traditional Jomon languages and Japonic.
In this way, when the small number of Mumun culture people immigrated to northern
Kyushu and mixed with the Jomon people, Japonic is also believed to have spread tonorthern Kyushu. But it is supposed that the transition between the original Jomon
languages and Japonic in northern Kyushu took the same time as that of the pottery style
from Yusu 1 to Itatsuke 1 pottery. It is supposed that the Jomon languages were replaced
by Japonic by way of the same process, because the new pottery techniques discussed
above were learned in Japonic, which was spoken by the Mumun people.
Japonic completely replaced the Jomon languages during the Itatsuke pottery period
in northern Kyushu in the 5th century BC. Language replacement also took about 300
years during the Initial Yayoi period of northern Kyushu. In this case, the people did
not necessarily change in terms of their genetic makeup. The Japonic language-speaking
people which accompanied the Itatsuke type pottery originated from the Fukuoka Plains
and migrated into western Japan, where Japonic gradually replaced the local Jomon
languages during the early Yayoi period. After the Middle Yayoi period which started atthe 3rd century BC, Yayoi culture became radically different from the Jomon culture still
existing in southern Kyushu and in eastern Japan. Despite this, Japonic languages aresupposed to have replaced the local Jomon languages in these areas.

5c. Archaeological explanation for the diffusion theory of the Koreanic
languageIn the 6–5th centuries BC, the Yan states of the Eastern Zhou period in China extended
their territory across the Yanshan Mountains and politically inﬂuenced chieftains in
Liaoxi district. From this time, immigrants of the Yinjiacun second stage made their
way from eastern Liaoxi to Liaodong and then on to the Korean Peninsula, where they
established the Jeomtodae (rolled rim) pottery. The Koreanic language is believed to havespread with this immigration to the Korean Peninsula to form the slender dagger (Korean
type dagger) culture (Whitman 2011). Such a cultural inﬂuence from eastern Liaoxi
district to the Korean Peninsula indicates the spread of proto-Koreanic with people
ﬂeeing due to the continuing territorial threat posed by the Yan states during the Warring
States period of China. This cultural spread originated from the Liangquan Culture or
the Yinjiacun second stage in the Liaodong district in Manchuria. And because this early© Japanese Archaeological Association

71

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

Iron Age is associated with the spread of Koreanic, it is assumed that the birthplace ofthe Koreanic language was also in eastern Liaoxi district.

6.

Conclusion

The question posed by this paper was, how could rice agriculture have been introduced
to the Japanese Islands by peoples from the Korean Peninsula who spoke a language(Japonic) that has no indigenous rice vocabulary? To answer this question necessitatedtracing the diffusion of material culture across the landscape, beginning with the Pianpu
culture in the south-central Manchurian Basin. The Pianpu culture possessed a Japonic
language and millet agriculture at c. 2400 BC; it spread from eastern Liaoxi to Liaodong
due to cooler climatic condition and produced Gonggwiri pottery in the middle andupper Yalu River. Gonggwiri pottery produced the band-rim pottery of Initial Mumun
culture which possessed four attributes of new pottery production technique for Mumun
pottery as same as those of Pianpu culture. In this process Japonic spread from Liaodong
via northwestern Korea to southern Korea at the beginning of Mumun culture at c. 1500
BC.
Mumun pottery production techniques came from the Pianpu culture in the eastern
Liaoxi district of Manchuria. The Pianpu culture spread from the eastern Liaoxi district
to the Liaodong district and then to the northwestern Korean Peninsula at the second
stage of Northeast Asian agriculturalization, c. 2400 BC. The Pianpu culture spreadthrough areas adjacent to Liaodong and the northwestern Korean Peninsula, and local
Chulmun in areas adjacent to Pianpu’s cultural boundaries acculturated to it. Those
acculturated cultures, e.g. having Gonggwiri type pottery in the middle and upper basinof the Yalu River, interacted with the southern Korean Peninsula, and produced theInitial Mumun culture. With this spreading of new pottery production techniques which
originated from the Pianpu culture in the eastern Liaoxi, Japonic is believed to havespread from the eastern Liaoxi district to the Korean peninsula accompanied by the same
pottery production techniques. It took about 900 years for the transition from the spreadof the Pianpu culture to the northwestern Korean Peninsula to the beginning of the
Mumun culture, the same as the transitional period from Neolithic languages to Japonicon the southern Korean Peninsula.
The third stage of Northeast Asian early agriculturalization, c. 1500 BC, is the spreadof rice agriculture with rice paddy ﬁelds accompanied by polished stone tools, likereaping knives, from Shandong Peninsula through Liaodong Peninsula to the Korean
Peninsula. The Mumun culture, which was based on the Pianpu culture, received
irrigated rice agriculture along with polished stone tools. Therefore, the Mumun culture
was established in this dualistic manner. This is the reason why although the Mumun© Japanese Archaeological Association

72

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

culture had Japonic language, it did not include vocabulary dedicated to rice, despite
being used in a rice-based agricultural society.
Archaeologically, the beginning of the Yayoi period with rice agriculture wasstimulated by the Mumun culture through demic diffusion based on the cooler climaticconditions (Miyamoto 2014). The pottery production techniques of Yayoi pottery wereintroduced from Mumun pottery. Mumun pottery changed from the Neolithic age in thesame sense that pottery techniques change from the Jomon to the Yayoi period (Misaka2012). Such pottery production techniques as those of the Mumun culture were not fully
used at the beginning of the Yayoi period of Yusu 1 type but in the Early Yayoi period of
Itatsuke type in northern Kyushu. The transitional period from Jomon to Yayoi accords
with the transition from Yusu 1 and Yusu 2 types to Itatsuke type in northern Kyushu.
It is believed that this transitional time from Jomon to Yayoi accords with the periodof transition from Jomon languages to Japonic in northern Kyushu, because the pottery
production techniques were learned not through imitation but through language.
During the Early Yayoi period, Itatsuke-style pottery spread to western Japan; atthe same time, Jomon culture developed into Yayoi culture, with the adoption of rice
agriculture in western Japan. In this way, Japonic spread to western Japan with Itatsuke
pottery, and it gradually led to a shift from Jomon languages to Japonic in westernJapan. Such a change in language along with change in pottery took place even in the
Middle Yayoi period in southern Kyushu and in the eastern Japan.
Koreanic originated from the eastern Liaoxi district, the same as Japonic originatingfrom the Pianpu culture. Koreanic and the Yinjiacun second stage culture spread toform the rolled-rim pottery in southern Korea in the 5th century BC, replacing Japonic
in southern Korea. The archaeological evidence shows the probability that these two
languages belong in the Altaic language group, and it accords with the linguistic ideathat Japonic is earlier than Koreanic in the chronological scheme (Unger 2009). So, thehomeland of both languages are the same and they are kin families of languages. But
the time difference between development of the two languages was about two thousand
years.

References
Ahn, J. 安在晧． 2010. Hanpando Cheondongi Shidae ui Sigi Kubun. 韓半島青銅器時
代의時期区分． Kokohaksi 考古学誌(16): 5–56.
Ahn, S. 2010. The emergence of rice agriculture in Korea: archaeobotanical perspectives, in
L. Hosoya, Y. Sato, & D. Fuller (ed.) Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 2
Special Issue, The Archeobotany of Asian Rice: 89–98.

© Japanese Archaeological Association

73

MIYAMOTO Kazuo

Bae, J. 裵眞晟． 2010. Mumun Togi ui Kyetong gwa Jeongae—Choegeon ui Jaenjeom eul
Jungsim. 無文土器의 系統과 展開—最近의 争点을 中心—． Kokohaksi 考古学誌(16):57–74.
Bellwood, P. 2005. First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies. Malden: Blackwell.
Chen, Q. & G. Chen. 陳全家・陳国慶．1992. Sangtang Xinshiqishidai Yizhi Fenqi Ji
Xiangguang Wenti 三堂新石器時代遺址分期及相関問題． Kaogu 考古(3): 232–244.
Imamura, M. & S. Fujio. 今村峯雄・藤尾慎一郎． 2009. The environmental change seenby the record of carbon 14, 炭素14の記録から見た自然環境変動—弥生文化成立期—， The Emergence of Yayoi Culture, The Archaeology of Yayoi Period. Vol. 2 弥生
文化誕生 弥生時代の考古学(2): 47–58, 同成社 .
Kobayashi, S., H. Kitano, K. Kuze, & T. Kojima. 小林正史・北野博司・久世健二・小嶋俊
彰． 2000. The change of ﬁring skill of Jomon and Yayoi pottery in Northern Kyushu.
北部九州における縄文・弥生土器の野焼き方法の変化． Seikyu Gakujutsu Ronshu.
青丘学術論集(17): 5–140.
Lee, S. & T. Hasegawa. 2011. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis supports an agricultural origin
of Japonic languages. Proceedings. Biological Sciences 278: 3662–3669.
Misaka, K. 三阪一徳． 2012. Traditional period between Neolithic and Bronze Age Pottery
in Southern Korean Peninsula seen from the pottery production technique. 土器製作技術からみた韓半島南部新石器・青銅器時代移行期: 縄文・弥生移行期との比較． The
tenth joint meeting between Kyushu Archeological Society and Yongnam ArcheologicalSociety. 第10回九州考古学会・嶺南考古学会合同学会．
Misaka, K. 三阪一徳． 2014. The beginning process of Yayoi period seen from pottery, 土器からみた弥生時代開始過程， Who is the owner of the incipient rice agriculture in
Japanese archipelago? 『列島初期稲作の担い手は誰か』： 125–174. Suirensha すいれん舎, Tokyo, Japan.
Miyamoto, K. 宮本一夫． 2011. The beginning of Yayoi seen from Itatsuke and Arita sites,「板付遺跡・有田遺跡からみた弥生の始まり」， New version, History of Fukuoka
city, Historical materials of the Archaeology, Vol. 3 『新修 福岡市史 史料編考古3』： 595–621. 福岡市 Fukuoka city, Japan.
Miyamoto, K. 宮本一夫． 2012. Acculturation and regional relationship focused on theburial system in the transitional time between Jomon and Yayoi. 弥生移行期における墓制から見た北部九州の文化受容と地域間関係． KOBUNKA DANSO 67: 147–177,『古文化談叢』第67集： 147–177.
Miyamoto, K. 2014. Human Dispersal in the Prehistoric Era in East Asia, in T. Nakahashi& F. Wenquan (eds.) Ancient People of the Central Plains in China: 63–83. Kyushu
University Press, Fukuoka, Japan.
Miyamoto, K. (ed.) 宮本一夫編． 2015. Research on the Shangmashi Shell Midden Site on
the Liaodong Peninsula, China. 『遼東半島上馬石貝塚の研究』． Kyushu University
Press 九州大学出版会， Fukuoka, Japan.
Renfrew, C. 1987. Archaeology and Language. London: Jonathan Cape.

© Japanese Archaeological Association

74

DIFFUSION THEORY OF THE JAPONIC AND KOREANIC LANGUAGES

Renfrew, C. 1999. Time depth, convergence theory, and innovation in Proto-Indo-European.
Journal of Indo-European Studies 27: 257–293.
Tanaka, Y. 田中良之．1991. Re-examination about so-called immigrant hypothesis, 「いわゆる渡来説の再検討」， The memorial papers for retirement of Prof. Kouichi Yokoyama
2 『横山浩一先生退官記念論文集 II』： 482–505, Kenbun-Shuppansha, Tokyo.
Tanaka, Y. & Y. Ozawa. 田中良之・小澤佳憲． 2001. Several Issues about Immigrants
from Korean Peninsula, 「渡来人をめぐる諸問題」， Research on the history of
relationship between Kyushu and Korean Peninsula 『弥生時代における九州・朝鮮
半島交流史の研究』： 3–27.
Yane, Y. 家根祥多．1984. From Jomon pottery to Yayoi pottery, 「縄文土器から弥生土器へ」， From Jomon to Yayoi 『縄文から弥生へ』： 49–78. Archeological Institute ofTezukayama University 帝塚山考古学研究所， Nara, Japan.
Yane, Y. 家根祥多．1997. From Mumun pottery in Korea to Yayoi pottery, 「朝鮮無文土器
から弥生土器へ」， Archeological papers of Ritsumeikan University 『立命館大学考古学論集』 1: 39–64, Department of Archeology in Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto,
Japan.
Unger, J. M. 2009. The Role of Contact in the Origins of the Japanese and Korean
Languages. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Vovin, A. 2013. From Koguryo to T’mna: Slowly riding to the South with speakers of ProtoKorean. Korean Linguistics 15: 222–240.
Whitman J. 2011. Northeast Asian Linguistic Ecology and the Advent of Rice Agriculture
in Korea and Japan. Rice (4): 149–158.

© Japanese Archaeological Association75