Micro-Regional Complexities in Yayoi Pottery Formas Seen through Morphometric Statistical Analysis
James Frances LOFTUS III1
ABSTRACTMicroregional studies on ceramic form have continued to elucidate detailed notions of diﬀerential
production practices for several decades. With the wide proliferation of accessible morphometricanalysis, statistically reproducible morphometric analysis of shape has quickly become aninternational standard in this ﬁeld of archaeological practice. However, with few studies on Yayoi
period pottery utilizing reproducible statistical analysis at a micro-regional level; morphologicalmicro-styles, which may elucidate diﬀerential learning practices, have been systematicallyoverlooked. In response to this oversight, this study seeks to elucidate the full range of potential
micro-regional morphological variance through the utilization of complex morphometric analysis.
Results in the Northern Kyushu region show that previous research which primarily utilizes typochronological methodology at a macro-spatial scale has failed to account for the full range ofcomplexities of pottery variation during this period. Through the use of multivariate statisticalanalysis of shape, two morphological micro-styles within the 65 km Northern Kyushu microregion have become clear. These two micro-styles, through the inclusion of ethnoarchaeologicalstudies, may elude to diﬀerential learning methods as well as divergent degrees of morphologicalstandardization over time.
KEYWORDS: Ceramics, Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Yayoi Period, Morphometrics, Pottery
Production

1.

Introduction

1.1

Pottery as a socio-cultural time capsule

Across the many decades since the formalization of archaeology as a sub-discipline ofanthropology, the analysis of pottery has consistently proven to be an extremely reliablemedium to reconstruct prehistoric production systems (Gandon et al. 2020). Due to thepliability of clay, continuous “checking” of vessel form during the production process
allows for intentional replication of socio-culturally determined model forms. In this way,
pottery acts as a societal time capsule, freezing a very small sliver of the societal context
it was created in, and in doing so, a keen archaeologist can extrapolate the traces andpatterns of this sliver of time (Orton & Hughes 2013; Roux 2019). By doing so, recreationof spatial as well as temporal changes of the given production, and in turn, societal context
1 Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Global Society, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku,

Fukuoka, Japan (JamesFrancesLoftusIII@gmail.com)
Category: Original Article Received: 2 July 2020; Accepted: 15 July 2021
JAPANESE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 9 (2021): 3–31

James Frances LOFTUS III

is possible. As these traces left on the vessels can range from the overall form of the pot
to minute changes in motor skills of the individual potters, holistic analysis is required tolocate and interpret these traces. Often times, the changes in these traces over time are so
minute that even over hundreds of years it may be diﬃcult to grasp any change at all, andincorporation of other aspects of the larger societal complex from other material culture
goods may be necessary to create a cohesive ﬂow of change, and by doing so, the methods
and organization of production can be inferred (Santacreu 2014).

1.2 The Initial/Early Yayoi period

In large-scale societal transitional contexts such as the Initial/Early Yayoi period, thesechanges are much more prominent, with material culture quickly transforming over a
relatively short period (archaeologically speaking); with several waves of demic migrationfrom the Korean Peninsula into the Northern Kyushu region due to various periodsof climatic cooling (Miyamoto 2014, 2015, 2016), not only was large-scale wet ricecultivation technology introduced to the indigenous Jomon populations, but also changes
in the style, form, and production process of pottery. Thus, the Jomon-Yayoi transitional
period serves as a suitable case study in the search of minute changes in vessel form that
may elude to complexities in the acceptance and rejection of diﬀerent technologies, andhas for many years been a staple in Japanese archaeology as a point of great interest as
well as contention (Mizoguchi 2013).
However, few studies seeking to clarify changes in vessel form have utilized
reproducible statistical analysis, and as such, cannot be independently veriﬁed via scientiﬁcmeans. Within the chosen region of study of Northern Kyushu in particular, major
studies on pottery production often fall within several major themes such as migration
patterns from the continent, diﬀerential production methods between the Jomon and“Yayoi” populations, or tracing pottery lineages. While such studies are extremely usefulin understanding general notions of socio-cultural contexts and macro-scale changes in
production methods through diﬀerential migration and settlement patterns; in terms of
elucidating micro-regional variance of pottery form, the methodology used in many ofthese studies fails to be statistically reproducible, instead relying on subjective intuitive
experience through the primary use of typo-chronological analysis, of which is basedon the categorization of vessel form into idiosyncratic “attributes.” For this reason,
not only has the scholarship failed to move past rehashing of typo-chronologies, Yayoi
period research has yet to be fully accepted into an international stage, of which suchbasic reproducibility is a standard practice in modern studies. This is not to say thatstudies utilizing statistical analysis have yet to be conducted at all. Previous scholars
such as Nakazono (2004) have utilized similar traditional morphometric based distancemeasurements in the extrapolation of variable types in the Northern Kyushu region, with© Japanese Archaeological Association

4

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

special focus paid on the Ogori region and local adoption of new production practices.
However, as to be discussed further in the methods section of this study, a lack ofstatistical signiﬁcance testing via a robust multivariate statistical means such as MANOVA(multivariate analysis of variance) calls into question the statistical validity of certain
claims of variable continuity, especially over a long temporal period. As Nakazono’s work
has laid the foundation for further studies utilizing this practice within this region andperiod, this work is a main point of methodological contention to be overcome throughfuture robust methods.
This study, a part of a larger PhD research project, seeks to build upon previous
scholar’s works while also expanding methodological frameworks in order to overcome
the continuous issues of scientiﬁc reproducibility in Japanese archaeological practice. This
project seeks to move beyond cultural-historical typo-chronologies in order to statisticallyquantify the overlooked degree of small-scale variation in the archaeological record
during the Jomon-Yayoi transitional period. This is done through a micro-regional casestudy of the northern Kyushu region, known widely as the ﬁrst point of contact between
the indigenous Jomon and incoming migrant populations (Yane 1984). Pottery is used as
the main item of study due to its additive properties as compared to other material items
introduced during the same period (stone goods, glass, wooden agricultural tools, etc.) as
well as the exciting potential for continuity of pottery production skills between the Jomon
and Yayoi. Morphometric analysis through the utilization of multivariate statistics is usedas the primary method of ceramic morphological analysis.

2.

Materials and methods

2.1

Periodization

The beginnings of what is now known as the “Yayoi period” is still a point of strong
contention among many contemporary scholars, and what constitutes the beginnings of
the Yayoi culture is a continuously evolving line of research. Scholars have at several key
points throughout the progression of Yayoi period studies have pointed to diﬀerent factors
or objects which should be considered the beginning of the Yayoi culture, such as Yuusu
type pottery (Sahara 1975; Okazaki 1971), and the AMS dates provided by the National
Museum of Japanese History in 2003. This paper tentatively accepts the results given byMiyamoto (2016) of typological cross-dating and the earliest example of irrigated wet rice
agriculture from the 8th century BC as a decent marker for the beginnings of the Yayoi
period for the sake of this current project, although this is not a point of argument in thiscurrent project.

© Japanese Archaeological Association

5

James Frances LOFTUS III

2.2

RegionThe Northern Kyushu area, speciﬁcally the Karatsu, Itoshima, Fukuoka, and Munakata
sub-regions were chosen as the main areas of analysis, as they are known to be the initialareas of interaction between indigenous Jomon and the incoming migrant cultures (Sahara
1975, 1981; Sugihara 1961; Yane 1984) (Figure 1, Table 1).

Figure 1. The Northern Kyushu region and associated subregions of Munakata, Fukuoka,
Itoshima and Karatsu
Table 1.

Initial-Early Yayoi period sites within the Northern Kyushu region utilized in this study

MUNAKATAFUKUOKAITOSHIMAKARATSU

Togonoboritate

Sasai

Shinmachi

Nabatake

Imagawa

ItazukeIshizaki-Magarita

東郷登リ立

雀居

今川

新町

板付

石崎曲り田

Shimotsukiguma-Tenjinmori
下月隈・天神森Goryomaenoen
御陵前ノ椽Naka Terao
中・寺尾© Japanese Archaeological Association

6

菜畑

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

2.3

Materials

2.3.1 Tsubo globular pot

Due to the complexities in production methods depending on diﬀerential shape-types andusage of vessels during the initial-early Yayoi period, the globular “tsubo” pots (壺型土器) (henceforth referred to as tsubo) are chosen as the main item of study. These small
pots (average height of 15∼20 cm) were ﬁrst introduced into the northern Kyushu region
directly from the Korean peninsula, without any similar shape type being seen during theprevious Jomon period.
The shapes of these vessels can range anywhere from long-neck, angular bodied vessels
to that of a shorter neck with a distinctly globular body shape (Figure 2). These diﬀerencesin general shape have the potential of possessing a high micro-regional spatial diﬀerence.
Fired at a relatively low temperature, these course-ware vessels range from rough topolished with black lacquer and red pigments. Despite originating from the Korean (無文,mumon) pottery tradition, over half of the excavated examples in northern Kyushu have
incised patterns on the upper half of the body section, starting from the widest point of the
body to the connecting point between the upper body and neck. However, several outlying
vessels in the Itoshima plain region show patterns on the lower body and neck of vessels
as well. Incised patterns range from horizontal straight lines to more intricate ‘wave’ andherringbone style patterns (Figure 3), with the body of the pot smoothed and incised using
a variety of tools such as shells, wooden sticks, etc. (Imamura 2011).
These pots were primarily deposited in mortuary contexts, either surrounding or foundwithin the various styles of burials prominent during the initial/early Yayoi period in
Northern Kyushu (Misaka 2014). These burial styles ranged from simple rectangular

Figure 2. An example of an early Yayoi “tsubo” globular pot. Shimotsukiguma C site, Fukuoka© Japanese Archaeological Association

7

James Frances LOFTUS III

Figure 3. Main pottery attributes (Lip/neck, Base, Body, and Patterns) associated with northern
Kyushu “tsubo” pots

pit burials similar to those during the late Jomon period, to stone-lined, wooden-coﬃn,dolmen, and jar style burials. Diversity lays not only in the style of burials themselves,
but also in the spatial layout of burial complexes. Ranging from hilltop burials withpossibilities of social strata, long rows of various burial styles lined along a preexisting
road, to seemingly haphazard burials which overlap each other, but may elude to cluesof the beginnings of a change from social-orientated burials to those that “manifest agenealogical connection and a continuity between the dead” through “sequential burial
clusters” (Mizoguchi 2014).
The micro-regional complexities of tsubo pots act as an extremely useful case study
due to the intended usage and deposition context of the pots being primarily mortuary
in nature. As compared to cooking jars “kame,” pedestaled dishes “takatsuki,” etc., thetsubo’s relative dating can be extrapolated not only utilizing the stylistic changes of the© Japanese Archaeological Association

8

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

pots themselves, but also that of the burial styles in which they were recovered. Certain
burial styles such as the jar burial only became prominent in the Northern Kyushu region
during the latter part of the early Yayoi period, while dolmen burials introduced during
the latter part of the initial Yayoi period saw a very strictly conﬁned temporal and spatial
limit within the micro-region itself. Due to these contextual changes in burial styles, notonly can the tsubo pots be more accurately placed in a sequential temporal order, potswith strong correlations to certain mortuary practices can be spatially traced over theseveral hundred-year transitional period. The tsubo’s place as typically the only surviving
burial good to be found in initial/early Yayoi burials gives the vessels a very distinct place
as compared to the middle Yayoi, where a much larger plethora of burial goods such asstone swords, glass beads, iron goods, etc. can be found. Several other scholars have also
appreciated the usefulness of the tsubo in extrapolating various notions of socio-cultural
diversity and production methods during this period (Hashino 2016, 2018; Nakazono2004).
A total of 220 samples from various sites across the Northern Kyushu region have been
compiled for use in both typo-chronology building as well as the extrapolation of microregional variance through the use of geometric morphometric analysis (Table 2). 111
partial samples or sherds containing at least 2 of the main morphological attributes outlined
Table 2.

Tsubo samples utilized in this study

Area

Site

Sherd/Partial
VesselWhole
Vessel

TOTAL

Munakata
Munakata
Fukuoka
Fukuoka
Fukuoka
Fukuoka
Fukuoka
Itoshima
Itoshima
KaratsuTogonoboritate
Imagawa
Sasai
ItazukeTenjinmori
Goryomaenoen
Nakaterao
Shinmachi
Magarita
Nabatake

2
4
9
26
4
0
3
11
33
19

5
9
16
12
11
9
15
20
2
10

7
13
25
38
15
9
18
31
35
29

111

109

220

TOTAL

109 whole vessel samples were utilized in the following geometric morphometric analysis, with
111 sherds/partial vessels incorporated in the building of typo-chronological stages.
© Japanese Archaeological Association

9

James Frances LOFTUS III

in Figure 3 are included in typology building due to the relatively small number of fullvessels available in the earliest stages of the study period. The remaining 109 full vessel
samples are tested using a variety of geometric morphometric statistical analysis to gauge
relative degrees of diﬀerential changes in form across time-space.

2.3.2

Chronology building

While working within a scholarshipthat has yet to adopt AMS dating in aholistic way; in order to maintain thegeneral structure of temporality whencompleting not only this analysis,
but all following statistical analysis,
the use of chronological seriation isparamount (Figure 4). All vessels havebeen placed within a relative timephase within the 9-phase chronologicalseriation, however one glaring problem
regarding the size of the sample still
persists. Some phases, especially thoseearlier phases, have much fewer vesselsthat complete morphometric data could
be extrapolated from. Thus, whencalculating these vessels into not only
cluster, but also principal component
analysis, the actual nature of the shape
type of those very detailed time-phases
may be misrepresented in the ﬁnal data
analysis. Thus, it was understood thatinstead of the strict utilization of the
9-phase chronological seriation itself, it
was necessary to understand any largerchanges across these time phases in termsof large-scale time-stages. This was done
by further categorization of vessels into a
3-stage temporal system based on periodsof largest morphological change in vesselform.
The notion that there were various

Figure 4. Tsubo pot (Northernchronological framework© Japanese Archaeological Association

10

Kyushu)MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

periods of large-scale changes in the style and shape-types of vessels during this period
is not a new idea, and has been touched on before, and especially by Miyamoto (2019),
who argues that large scale changes not only in pottery production, but also the culture
as a whole in the Northern Kyushu region took place during the Itazuke 1 phase of the
traditional chronological-seriation. Through geometric morphometric means, the presenceor absence of morphological changes in vessel form due to such socio-cultural shifts may
be discernable.

2.4
2.4.1

Methodology
Geometric Morphometrics

Geometric morphometrics (henceforth referred to as GMM) is a wide range of potential
elucidations of shape through statistical means. While Cooke & Terhune (2015) deﬁne
GMM as “a collection of approaches for the multivariate statistical analysis and visualization
or Cartesian coordinate data,” it may be more beneﬁcial in this example to visualize GMM
as a group of diﬀerential statistical analysis, of which certain beneﬁcial analysis are chosen
to use in tandem for the main purpose of extrapolating variance in the form of the sample
at hand. Despite the wide net that GMM casts, the study of general morphometrics consistsof multiple methods of data extrapolation and proceeding statistical analysis applied to said
data. Each of the 3 main methods of data extrapolation (Traditional, Landmark, Outline)
have strengths and weaknesses that will ﬁt better with the nature of the samples being used.

2.4.2 Traditional Morphometrics

Traditional morphometrics, as deﬁned
by Webster & Sheets, “summarizes
morphology in terms of length
measurements, ratios, or angles, thatcan be investigated individually orseveral at a time” (Webster & Sheets2010). Distance extrapolation involves
measuring the distance between certain
important morphological points, andis most often utilized in biologicalsamples, however has also been used inmorphologically similar material cultural
samples as well in order to extrapolate
the degree of production standardization(Nakazono 2004; Wang & Marwick

Figure 5. Traditional morphometric analysis
utilized in this study© Japanese Archaeological Association

11

James Frances LOFTUS III

2020).
Often times, traditional methods may fail to suﬃciently extract clear morphologicalvariance between diﬀerential shape type and/or across extremely morphologically varied
material cultural goods due to a majority of variance falling within what can be considereddiﬀerential size factors (such as widest width or height). However, within goods ofrelatively low intra-group morphological variance, especially with regards to size factors, it
is possible to extrapolate important morphological notions of variance over space and time.
The chosen traditional morphometric analysis in this study are outlined in Figure 5, with ageneral workﬂow summarized in Section 2.4.3.
Landmark distances are categorized into 3 categories; 1. Height variables, 2. Widthvariables, and 3. Thickness variables (Figure 6). Largely based on previous studies ofnorthern Kyushu Yayoi pottery these points represent the distances between and within the
key points of interest in terms of changes in the overall morphological shape of the vessel(Nakazono 2004). This is in contrast with Shennan’s (1988) use of taking measurements
at even intervals from the top to the bottom of the vessel. This interpretation often clumps
diﬀerent points of interest together, and does not help to reduce the observable andunobservable changes in vessel form, but instead over generalize variation and limits thedegree of morphological elucidation that can be processed from the vessel form.

Figure 6.

20 landmark distances utilized in this study (A–T)© Japanese Archaeological Association

12

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Due to the nature of this process of taking a very strict set of landmarks across vessels,
the number of usable samples was severely reduced to about half of the original sample
size, from a total of ∼200 samples to that of 109 vessels. However, the distribution ofthese vessels across sites still can be seen as representative of the actual micro-regional
pottery production processes at the time, with vessels almost equally represented evenly
across all original sites.

2.4.3 Analysis Workﬂow

The chosen traditional morphometric toolkit of analysis used in this study to extrapolate
temporal and spatial factors of shape transformations are brieﬂy summarized below by
each desired outcome, with a general summary of the analysis workﬂow conducted tofollow (1. Image extraction, 2. Landmark distance extraction, 3. General morphologicaldistribution, 4. Ordination/data reduction, 5. Morphological clustering, 6. Inter-variable &inter-group signiﬁcance testing).

1.

Image extraction

2.

Landmark distance extraction

3.

General morphological distribution

Archaeological excavation reports are scanned at a minimum of 600 DPI, and outlying
data is removed with the original scaling of the image kept intact. Each individual imageﬁle of each vessel is then cleaned up and manually outlined in image editing software suchas GIMP or Photoshop.
Landmark distance measurements are taken from the 2d outlines provided in relevantsite reports using a combination of Adobe Photoshop, ImageJ (Schneider et al. 2012) and
Adobe Illustrator. As the original scales are intact from the image extraction process, a
simple standard measurement of 30 cm is set within ImageJ, and measurements between
morphological “landmarks” are extracted utilizing the “measure” function. Following the
successful extraction of 20 distance measurements for each of the given samples, the list ofmeasurement data is exported to an excel ﬁle for statistical analysis.
General morphological distribution through the utilization of distance measurements
is extracted through the use of general box-plot analysis of the aforementioned 20
morphological distances. Measurements are extracted from the exported excel sheet andbox-plot analysis is conducted in PAST via the “plot→boxplot” function (Hammer et al.
2001).

© Japanese Archaeological Association

13

James Frances LOFTUS III

4.

Ordination/data reduction

5

Morphological clustering

6.

Inter-variable & inter-group signiﬁcance testing

Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
Due to the high degree of dimensionality in distance data, it is necessary to reduce thisdimensionality to the most important degrees of variance. PCA is most commonly usedin the ordination and reduction of dimensionality in this regard. PCA is a dimensionality
reduction method that “reduces dimensionality by performing a singular value
decomposition of the variance-covariance matrix and extracting the resulting eigenvectors,
which then form the principal components” (Cooke & Terhune 2015). These principal
components in turn come to represent the highest notions of morphological variance,
provided that each PC represents relatively diﬀerent areas of a craft good’s form. PCA
is conducted via the PAST function “Multivariate→Ordination→Principal Components(PCA).” Only the ﬁrst two components accounting for the highest degree of morphologicalvariance are retained for plotting purposes.
Cluster Analysis (based on Mahalanobis distance index)
Although PCA is often mistaken as a method of morphological clustering, and while
PCA can give ideas as to the number of potential clusters and the general distribution ofvessels within a morphospace, speciﬁc clustering methods are necessary to clarify thesenotions. General cluster analysis based on Mahalanobis distance is utilized to this end in
this study. Cluster analysis is utilized across almost all studies seeking to “group” samples,
whether this be through traditional, landmark or outlined-based GMM. This study utilizes
the Mahalanobis similarity index due to the following two shortcomings of the Euclidean
index: 1. Euclidean indexes are overly sensitive to changes in the scales of the variables
involved. Traditionally this problem arises from the utilization of variables with vastly
diﬀerent scales (e.g. height, weight, age, etc.). While this study may not overtly have suchdrastic diﬀerences, the diﬀerences between say height and extremely ﬁne thickness points
seem to be overly weighted in this analysis, skewing the results. 2. Euclidean indexes do
not account for correlated variables. This point is extremely important in the analysis of
this study’s data set, in that almost all of the variables are highly co-correlated. Also, many
variables have almost identical values (especially in the case of thickness points), thus theuse of a Euclidean index overly weights the second, third, fourth and so on variables thathave similar values, extremely skewing results.
Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA)
While conducting morphometric analysis may yield interesting morphological results,
not all data sets or chosen grouping methods may yield statistically signiﬁcant results,© Japanese Archaeological Association

14

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Figure 7.

Box plot analysis (all stages)

and as analysis such as PCA or cluster analysis do not test for signiﬁcance, it is necessary
to the test robustness of each chosen grouping through a separate means. MANOVA is astatistical method which tests relative statistical signiﬁcance between multiple variables
across multiple samples (Bray & Maxwell 1985). In this example, MANOVA is conducted
via PAST, under the “Multivariate→Tests→MANOVA” function in order to extrapolate
which variables show a statistically signiﬁcant change in form between the three temporal
stages.

3.

Results

Based on a three-stage temporal analysis of pottery styles situated within the typochronological sequence explained above, results show that previous research whichprimarily utilizes typo-chronological methodology at a macro-spatial scale has failed toaccount for the full range of complexities of pottery variation during this period. Throughthe use of multivariate statistical analysis within the 3-stage temporal period, it has beenshown that there existed at least 2 micro-styles within the 65-kilometer micro-region.
Results are categorized based on the aforementioned categorical workﬂow process (1.
General morphological distribution, 2. Ordination/data reduction, 3. Morphologicalclustering, 4. Inter-variable & inter-group signiﬁcance testing).

3.1

General morphological distribution

Box plot analysis on all distance measurements shows that variables with the highest
degree of variation from the mean are mostly related to upper body and neck/lip attributes,
while those with lower degrees of variation from the mean are those related to the lower© Japanese Archaeological Association

15

James Frances LOFTUS III

Figure 8.

Box plot analysis (individual stages)

body and base attributes (Figure 7). Thus, in terms of overall variation present in each of
the landmark distance variables as well as the vessel attributes, it can be understood thatvessels can be divided into two main morphological sections based on diﬀerential degrees
of variance.
With regards to each stage analysed seperately, an interesting temporal pattern arises
from diﬀerential degrees of variation between variables (Figure 8). Overall analysis in thevariation from mean values across all 3 stylistic stages showed that signiﬁcant changes
in overall variation was present. While there are statistically signiﬁcant diﬀerences in the
degree of variation between upper and lower vessels points, as a whole all points (withlower vessel points being the highest) experienced a lessening of variation from the mean
© Japanese Archaeological Association

16

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Figure 9. Principal Component Analysis (3 stage system) PC1: 65% (B, C, D, H, and N), PC2:
27% (G, J, K)

over time. Through this analysis it can be understood that there existed at a regional level,
possible notions of morphological standardization of vessel style/shape over time. With
special attention paid to stage 3 vessels, it can be understood that especially within theupper-vessel variables, variance reduced intensely as compared to the previous stages.

3.2

Ordination/data reduction

Principal component analysis was conducted utilizing the previously outlined landmark
distances (Figure 9), and per normal practice only components with eigenvalues over 1
were included in the potential comparison. Principal component 1 (PC1) accounted forapproximately 65% of total variance, with highest coeﬃcient correlations being withregard to points B, C, D, H, and N, all values (except H) being associated with the upper
half of the pot (from the upper lip to the upper half of the body). Principal component
2 (PC2) accounted for approximately 27% of total variance, with highest coeﬃcientcorrelations being with regard to points G, J, and K, or the lower half vessels. While not
all variables are equally represented, general diﬀerential morphological patterns from boththe upper and lower portions of vessels could be understood. These results align with thepreviously mentioned diﬀerential degrees of variance between upper and lower vessel
variables. Figure 9, an overall PCA analysis of vessels from all 3 stages shows several
interesting results outlined below:© Japanese Archaeological Association

17

James Frances LOFTUS III

Figure 10.

Cluster analysis (all vessels) (overlaid average cluster shapes for clarity)

1. Stage 2 vessels are split into 2 smaller groups, correlating more closely to either stage 1or stage 3 points accordingly.
2. The overlap between each of the stage 2 micro groups overlaps heavily with stage 1
and stage 3 vessels, this slightly mirrors results seen in the previously mentioned cluster
analysis.

3.3

Morphological clustering

Cluster analysis was completed using the neighbor-joining clustering method Mahalanobis
similarity index in PAST (Figure 10). The corresponding average shapes of eachmorphological cluster and the majority stage is also overlaid for clarity.
Overall it can be noted that aside from stage 2 vessels, most vessels of the same timestage tend to cluster closely with one another, and do not vary much in terms of not only
their distance from one another up and down but also from left and right, with only a few
examples of outliers within a mini-cluster. Clusters are spread into 3 main groups situatedon the same level of axis, with various mini-clusters making these up. As previously
mentioned, temporality is divided into 3 main time-stages. Stage 1 vessels seem tohave a large degree of overall variation, with vessels spread across the majority of the© Japanese Archaeological Association

18

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Figure 11. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) results from statistically signiﬁcantchanges (p<.05, stages 1–3)

morphological landscape. Stage 2 vessels are split into two main clusters centering at
slowly below the upper portion of the spectrum, and at the lower quadrant of the analysis.
Stage 3 vessels are more tightly correlated; most being dispersed in the right quadrant of
the cluster analysis.

3.4

Inter-variable & inter-group signiﬁcance testing

In order to uphold the temporal integrity of the samples, MANOVA was performed
between vessels of each of the 3 stages in order to understand at a holistic level whether
or not the overall changes in form would be statistically signiﬁcant, and if they would
mirror the previously understood results of a gradual change from stage 2 angular andglobular vessels to primarily globular vessels with small necks in the third stage (Figure11). Overall, with a signiﬁcance level of p value <.05, the overall statistically signiﬁcantchanges to vessel form from stage 1 to stage 3 are outlined as follows:
1. An increase in the width and curvature of the lip of pots
2. The body shape widens and has a more globular curvature
3. The neck length shortens drastically
4. The connecting point between the base and the body widens© Japanese Archaeological Association

19

James Frances LOFTUS III

3.5

Summary

4.

Discussion

Combining the breadth of each individual analysis into a synthesized argument,
morphometric results show two signiﬁcant morphological characteristics of pottery form
during the initial-early transitional period, 1. Diﬀerential intra-vessel variance, 2. Microregional micro-styles. Firstly, both between general box plot analysis as well as PCA,
the upper portion of vessels tend to hold the highest degree of morphological variance ascompared to the lower portion of vessels. Secondly, through cluster analysis, PCA andMANOVA, it can be understood that during stage 2, there existed two morphologicallyseparable groups of vessels that tend to cluster more closely to the previous stage 1 vessels,
or that of stage 3 vessels respectively. These two micro-styles, while generally similar inmorphology, show very minute diﬀerences in the length of the lip/neck region as well as
the degree of roundness of the globular body of vessels.

Results from traditional morphometric analysis have elucidated several diﬀerential
styles of vessel form within the Northern Kyushu region during the initial/early Yayoi
period. With a closer look at the micro-scale, 2 statistically distinct micro-styles during
stage 2 (coinciding with the introduction of the Itazuke type) emerged, and through theincorporation of ethnographic studies on material cultural production contexts, with special
attention paid to the process of ceramic standardization; it may be deduced that pottery
producing communities within this small micro-region during earlier periods incorporated
a varying degree of stylistic choice when creating vessel form, but this variable style waseither erased or incorporated into a standardized production practice by the end of the early
Yayoi period.

4.1

Pottery Standardization

Results showing a decrease in overall variable variance between and within vessels
temporally have potentials of elucidating general changes in pottery production,and in turn, learning contexts during this period. In traditional studies of production
standardization, changes in the degrees of relative standardization within a material
cultural good may be interpreted as a reactionary clue to the makeup of production groups,
or the degree of specialization held by agents (Costin 1991). While in prehistoric contexts,
often times the only existing, testable notion of production contexts is that of the material
good itself (“indirect evidence”; Costin 1991); diﬀerential variance in form/shape is often
a reliable indicator of changes in these production contexts (Arnold & Nieves 1992). As
such, with the inclusion of a framework of production standardization and its connection todiﬀerential learning methods, a sliver of the variety of potential production methods during© Japanese Archaeological Association

20

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

this period is possible to reconstruct.
Costin (1991, 2000) and Arnold (2000) note that standardization of material cultural
production is broken down into 3 stages; First, the intensiﬁcation of production. Second,
the specialization of pottery production by a select few or group of individuals within thegroup context. Third, reduces the degree of variation within the style and shapes of vessels.
Due to the nature of archaeological materials, this process must be studied in reverse,with the variation of vessels being the main object of study, and the ﬁrst two stages being
inferred from the data, solidiﬁed with ethnographic examples.
Rice (1981) notes that the standardization of vessel style and shape can only bereasonably understood through “a small group of individuals utilizing a limited rangeof materials and somewhat formalized or routinized techniques that result in virtually
identical procedures such as mass production,” as opposed to the entire group ofindividuals in a cultural system utilizing the same techniques, as these individuals all
carry varying degrees of their own personal styles and backgrounds (Rice 1981). With theassumption that the lowering of overall vessel variation was due to the specialization ofpottery production by a smaller group of individuals comes with it two assumptions:
1) Large-scale, intense production of pottery can only be feasibly performed by aspecialized group of full-time potters due to the relative amount of time necessary to
produce vessels at a high-rate being outside the technical skill of non-skilled potters.
Which leads to the second assumption that:
2) Small-scale production can be performed by either full-time potters, or more likely, alarger group of part-time potters (Roux 2003). As Roux (2003) notes, groups with largescale, intense production of pottery do show a signiﬁcantly lower degree of variation
among all points. In this way, as shown through the 3 stages, it can be assumed that not
only was pottery production specialized, but was done so through the production ofpottery by a smaller group of full-time potters.
Synthesizing the aforementioned results of the tsubo globular pot, the above
standardization framework, and socio-cultural background context; it becomes clearthat key factors in material cultural standardization took place during the initial/early
Yayoi period in the Northern Kyushu region. Firstly, as previously mentioned, increases
in population, especially with regards to population density, may play a key role in the
narrowing of potential variance in form through the increase of production intensity.
During the early Yayoi period, due to several waves of migration from the Korean
peninsula, the site density within the Northern Kyushu region, especially within plains
regions, increased dramatically (Miyamoto 2016). Furthermore, population estimations
during this period also show marked increases in population density around the mid-stage
2 period (Kim & Park 2020; Watanabe et al. 2019), overlapping with a general increasein pottery intensiﬁcation, especially within micro-style 2 vessels. Secondly, the degree of© Japanese Archaeological Association

21

James Frances LOFTUS III

variance within the intensiﬁed micro-style 2 vessels and stage 3 vessels, of which seem to
be morphologically close to micro-style 2 vessels, sharply falls during this period. These
results also align with Miyamoto’s model of migration patterns and the spread of “Yayoi
culture” throughout western Japan, necessitating a relatively standardized form of material
culture during the period which aligns with stage 2 in this study (Miyamoto 2014, 2016).
These results show that despite an increase in site and population density during theinitial/early Yayoi period, a decrease in the variety of vessel form must be indicative ofa conscious and widespread change in the production context of pottery, to that of smallgroup style, specialized potters (Roux 2003). As the need for the mortuary pottery of thetsubo globular pot increased during stage 2, a lower number of specialized potters was anecessary change in order to successfully increase the production intensity to a suﬃcientlevel (Blackman et al. 1993).

4.2

Learning processes

It has been noted that the attachment of a social dimension to the humanoid actions ofindividuals and groups is due to the process of the transmission of information regarding
pottery production techniques through the act of learning (Baldi & Roux 2016). Utilizing
Reed and Bril’s (1996) notion of “tutor, learner and models,” it is possible to discern toa large degree the learning process of pottery production during this period, at least withregards to the mortuary pottery of the tsubo globular pot. It has already been noted that
there existed a standardization of pottery production among a relatively small group of
specialists. It is then fair to reason that these specialists were taught the process of pottery

Figure 12.

PCA output for stage 2 vessels, highlighting the two micro-styles© Japanese Archaeological Association

22

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

production from other, more experienced potters, utilizing a process of observation of amodel vessel, and replication of this model. This notion can be understood through the useof statistical analysis to recognize the existence of clustering around a model shape-type.
Results from PCA shed light on this phenomenon, albeit only to a certain extent due tosmall sample sizes.
Focusing speciﬁcally on clustering in stage 2 (Figure 12), where patterns are mostclearly visible, three general conclusions may be deduced:
1) The existence of 2 micro-styles is evidence of two diﬀerent systems of learning, anddiﬀerences in the series of stylistic technological choice over time was at play in orderto create such a stylistic diﬀerence.
2) Tight clustering around a “model” style in the micro-style type 2 is evidence of a systemof “tutor, learner, and model” learning as outlined by Reed and Bril (1996). This modelstyle is not bound to one site, but the process of learning is dispersed across multiple
sites in the central Fukuoka plain region.
3) The existence of an area-wide system of “tutor, learner, and model” learning in thecentral Fukuoka plain region as seen in micro-style type 2 can be indicative of anestablishing system of pottery standardization by a smaller group of specialized
individuals within each site.
From these conclusions, it is possible to deduce that within micro-style 2 vessels there
existed a system of a methodically rigorous learning processes which limited degrees
of variation of vessel style, and thus clusters around a model-style. This system oflearning is also inferred from the presence of systematic patterns of standardization ofpottery production, as mentioned before, which requires the direction of a small groupof specialized potters, which would infer the need for such a system of learning to exist.
The absence of such a rigorous learning system in micro-style 1 vessels is supported byresults from cluster analysis, PCA as well as MANOVA. Results show that micro-style 2
vessels are relatively much closer, and overlap to a great extent with vessels from stage 3.
Potential interpretation of these results are that the micro-style 2 vessel style became thepreferred style of choice for potters within the northern Kyushu region, and as such, thestyle continued and was transformed into the stage 3 type, while the micro-style 1 vesselstyle was abandoned.
However, without knowing which morphometric vessel variables were signiﬁcantly
changed over time, it is diﬃcult to conﬁrm whether or not this change from micro-style
2 vessels to stage 3 vessels reﬂect the true situation of the learning process, or simply
sampling bias. Fortunately, MANOVA analysis supports the interpretation that the microstyle 2 vessel type was strategically chosen, and replicated through this learning process.
MANOVA shows that the largest statistically signiﬁcant changes in numerical values(counted in centimeters) over the entirety of the investigated period are within the “J,”© Japanese Archaeological Association

23

James Frances LOFTUS III

height of neck and “H,” height between the largest width and neck. It just so happens thatthe largest diﬀerence in values between micro-style type 1 and type 2 is between thesevalues, with type 1 vessels having long necks “J” and short body “H” values, and type 2
vessels having short necks “J” and long body “H” values. Thus, the general trend of thesevalues, whether they get larger or smaller, should reﬂect the pattern of acceptance of oneof these micro-styles in favor of the other. MANOVA results show that neck “J” values
signiﬁcantly decrease from 4.5 to 2.8 cm, and body “H” values increase from 2.5 to 3.6 cm.
This general trend follows closely with the average factor scores of micro-style type 2
vessels. The combination of this analysis with cluster and PCA analysis shows that indeed
micro-style type 2 vessels of the central Fukuoka plain were chosen as the desired vesselstyle, not only among the potters themselves, but also by the community as a whole, asSantacreu (2014) points out, that “users [of pottery] also participate in the reproduction ofchoosing” (Figure 13).
Further investigations into the source of diﬀerential intra-vessel variance between theupper and lower portions of vessels and why the lip/neck region shows consistently highdegrees of variance is a future endeavor that will likely elucidate more detailed notionsof agentic action during the formation process of pottery during this period. Tentativeinquiries show that the lip/neck of pottery may show higher degrees of variance due to theconscious and idiosyncratic styles of potters, as compared to that of the lower body/baseregions (Roux 2003). Furthermore, investigations by Gandon & Roux (2019) and Gandon
et al. (2020) show that within standardized pottery producing communities in India, theupper half of vessels often takes the longest amount of time to create, with the highest
number of unique and increasingly complex motor skills (as measured through hand
gestures) needed to complete these sections is the highest between any other section ofvessels. These notions show that even within standardized pottery producing communities,
idiosyncratic style is still a measurable phenomenon, and as such, may have contributed
to further regional styles within western Japan in later stages of the Yayoi period, as the“Yayoi culture” spread outside of the Northern Kyushu region (Miyamoto 2016).

4.3

Discussion conclusions

It has been understood that through a series of technological choices made not only bypotters, but also by pottery consumers at the local level; certain styles of pottery production
were chosen as desirable (micro-style 2), and as such were incorporated into thestandardizing, methodically rigorous system of learning via a “tutor, learner and model”
system. Styles that were not considered desirable (micro-style 1) were not incorporated
into this system, and as such do not reﬂect a level of standardization around a model style,and were eventually disregarded completely in favor of the desired style (type 2), which
continued into later phases (stage 3) (Figure 13). These styles are not only a reﬂection© Japanese Archaeological Association

24

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Figure 13.

Process of pottery standardization from stage 2 to stage 3 vesselsof stylistic diﬀerences, but also incorporate diﬀerent levels of technological choice, thatbeing a direct reﬂection of certain social identities and systems of learning. As such, thesestyles reﬂect diﬀerent conscious and unconscious human action reﬂecting these identities,
engrained into the vessels themselves.

5.

Conclusions

This current study was an updated summary of a master’s thesis project and currently
constitutes a small portion of a larger PhD research project, and as such, some of the views
expressed currently along with the chosen analysis are susceptible to change as the projectprogresses. This current project sought to test how to overcome several large theoreticaland methodological shortcomings present in the current study of Yayoi period earthenware.
By combining methodological frameworks from a variety of traditions, it has been notedthat the inclusion of both seemingly incompatible methods together were deemed very
useful in this particular case study. Results have shown that through a lack of rigorous© Japanese Archaeological Association

25

James Frances LOFTUS III

methodological testing, several important micro-regional complexities have been ignoredin previous studies of pottery in the northern Kyushu region.
However, while in the current case, traditional distance-based morphometric analysis
has proven successful in elucidating interesting diﬀerential morphological variance; theuse of such methods within a material-cultural context should be done so with caution. As
is the nature of material culture, distance analysis will often be overridden with a majorityof size factors, such as widest width or height, that may obscure any notion of diﬀerential
shape. While traditional methods are still utilized in modern analysis of biological samples,the setbacks of this method in archaeology has necessitated more complex incorporationsof outline and 3D-based geometric morphometric analysis (Cooke & Terhune 2015).
While the results shown above have elucidated exciting new directions for the expansionof methodological frameworks within pottery studies in Japanese archaeology; in further
expansions to include morphologically distant shape types, this inclusion of non-distancebased techniques is a necessary evolution of this methodological process.
While this study exclusively focused on one shape type of pottery, the “tsubo,” othershape types that were used in diﬀerent social contexts may lead to several interestingclues as to not only the nature of the large spread of migrant culture into the Japanesearchipelago, but also how local cultures accepted and rejected certain aspects of new
traditions to create regionally distinct traditions that may have changed the course ofregional diversity in the centuries to follow.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Mitsubishi Corporation as well as the Japan Society for
the Promotion of Science (JSPS) under the Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows program (Grant
No. 19J21494, Title: 板付式壺形土器 : 北部九州弥生土器の小地域間の比較研究 [Itazuke
Style Globular Earthenware: A Micro-Regional Case Study of Yayoi Pottery Trends inNorthern Kyushu]).

References
Arnold, D. 2000. Does the standardization of ceramic pastes really mean specialization?
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 7(4): 333–75. https://doi.org/10.1023/
A:1026570906712.
Arnold, D. & A.L. Nieves. 1992. Factors aﬀecting ceramic standardization, G.J. Bey III
and C.A. Pool, ed. In Ceramic production and distribution: an integrated approach,
113–214. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Baldi, J. & V. Roux. 2016. The innovation of the Potter’s wheel: a comparative perspective© Japanese Archaeological Association

26

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

between Mesopotamia and the Southern Levant. Levant 48(3): 236–53. https://doi.org/
10.1080/00758914.2016.1230379.
Blackman, M.J., G.J. Stein, & P.B. Vandiver. 1993. The standardization hypothesis andceramic mass production: technological, compositional, and metric indexes of craftspecialization at Tell Leilan, Syria. American Antiquity, 58(1): 60–80. https://doi.
org/10.2307/281454
Bray, J.H. & S.E. Maxwell. 1985. Multivariate analysis of variance. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Cooke, S. & C. Terhune. 2015. Form, function, and geometric morphometrics. Anat. Rec.,
298: 5–28. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.23065.
Costin, C. 1991. Craft specialization: issues in deﬁning, documenting, and explaining theorganization of production. Archaeological Method and Theory, 3: 1–56.
Costin, C. 2000. The use of ethnoarchaeology for the archaeological study of ceramic
production. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 7(4): 377–403.
Gandon, et al. 2020. Traditional craftspeople are not copycats: potter idiosyncrasies invessel morphogenesis. PLOS ONE 15(9): e0239362. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.
pone.0239362
Gandon, E. & V. Roux. 2019. Cost of motor skill adaptation to new craft traits:
experiments with expert potters facing unfamiliar vessel shapes and wheels. Journalof Anthropological Archaeology 53.
Hammer, et al. 2001. PAST: Paleontological Statistics Software Package for Education andData Analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4(1): 1–9.
HASHINO S．端野晋平. 2016. 板付式成立前後の壺形土器—分類と編年の検討 Itatsuke
1 shiki seiritsu zengo no tsubogatadoki [Tsubo globular pots before and after theformation of Itazuke 1]. In 考古学は科学か 田中良之先生追悼論文集 Kōkogaku wa
kagaku ka: Tanaka Yoshiyuki sensei tsuitō ronbunshū. Fukuoka: Chūgokushoten.
HASHINO S．端野晋平. 2018. 初期稲作文化と渡来人：そのルーツを探る Shoki inasaku
bunka to toraijin: Sono rūtsu o saguru [Initial rice cultivating society and migrants].
Tokyo: Suirensha.
IMAMURA, K．今村啓爾. 2011. 異系統土器の出会い Ikeitō doki no deai [Encounters
between diﬀerent systems of pottery]. Tokyo: Dōseisha.
KIM J. & PARK J. 2020. Millet vs rice: an evaluation of the farming/language dispersal
hypothesis in the Korean context. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 2: E12. doi:10.1017/
ehs.2020.13]
MISAKA K．三阪一徳. 2014. 土器からみた弥生時代開始過程 Doki kara mita
yayoijidaikaishikatei [The commencement process of Yayoi period as seen frompottery]. In 列島初期稲作の担い手は誰か Rettōshoki inasaku no ninaite wa dareka[Who is the owner of the incipient rice agriculture in Japanese archipelago?]. Tokyo:
Suirensha.
MIYAMOTO K．宮本一夫. 2014. Human dispersal in the prehistoric era in East Asia, in
T. Nakahashi & W. Fan (ed.) Ancient people of the Central Plains in China: 63–83.
Fukuoka: Kyushu University Press.
© Japanese Archaeological Association

27

James Frances LOFTUS IIIMIYAMOTO K．宮本一夫. 2015. The initial spread of agriculture into Northeast Asia.
Asian Archaeology 3: 11–26.
MIYAMOTO K．宮本一夫. 2016. Archeological explanation for the diﬀusion theory of the
Japonic and Koreanic languages. Japanese Journal of Archaeology 4(1): 53–75.
MIYAMOTO K．宮本一夫. 2019. The spread of rice agriculture during the Yayoi period:
From the Shandong Peninsula to Japanese Archipelago via Korean Peninsula.
Japanese Journal of Archaeology, 6(2): 109–124.
MIZOGUCHI K. 2013. The archaeology of Japan: from the earliest rice farming villages
to the rise of the state (Cambridge World Archaeology). Cambridge University Press.
MIZOGUCHI K. 2014. The centre of their life-world: the archaeology of experience at the
Middle Yayoi cemetery of Tateiwa-Hotta, Japan. Antiquity 88(341): 836–50. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00050729.
NAKAZONO S．中園 聡 2004. 九州弥生文化の特質 Kyūshū yayoi bunka no tokushitsu[Characteristics of Kyushu Yayoi culture]. Fukuoka: Kyushu Daigaku Shuppankai.
OKAZAKI T．岡崎 敬. 1971. Nihon kōkogaku no hōhō (Methods in Japanesearchaeology)「日本考古学の方法」, in: Kodai no Nihon 9 (Ancient Japan 9) 古代の日
本 9: pp. 30–53. Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten 角川書店．
Orton, C. & M. Hughes. 2013. Pottery in archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Reed, E.S. & B. Bril. 1996. The primacy of action in development: a commentary of N.
Bernstein, in M. Latash (ed.) Dexterity and its development: 431–451. Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Rice, P. 1981. Evolution of specialized pottery production: a trial model. Current
Anthropology 22(3): 219–40.
Roux, V. 2003. Ceramic standardization and intensity of production: quantifying degrees of
specialization. American Antiquity 68(4): 768–82. https://doi.org/10.2307/3557072.
Roux, V. 2019. Ceramics and Society: a technological approach to archaeologicalassemblages. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
SAHARA M．佐原 真. 1975. Nōgyō no kaishi to kaikyū shakai no keisei (The
beginnings of agriculture and the establishment of stratiﬁed society)「農業の開始と階級社会の形成」, in Iwanami Kōza Nihon Rekishi I: Genshi oyobi Kodai 1,『原始および古代 1』岩波講座日本歴史 1. pp. 113–182. Tokyo: Iwanami shouten 岩波
書店．

SAHARA M．佐原 真. 1981. 考古学者からみた自然科学者 Kōkogakusha kara mita
shizenkagakusha (Natural scientists as seen by an archaeologist)．考古学のための化学 10 章，in: MABUCHI H. and TOMINAGA T. (ed.) Kōkogaku no tame no Kagaku
10 Shō (10 chapters on chemistry for archaeology). 1–24. Tokyo: University of Tokyo
Press.
Santacreu, D. 2014. Materiality, techniques and society in pottery production, thetechnological study of archaeological ceramics through paste analysis. Berlin,
Boston: Sciendo. https://doi.org/10.2478/9783110410204.
© Japanese Archaeological Association

28

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Schneider, C.A., W.S. Rasband, & K.W. Eliceiri. 2012. NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years ofimage analysis. Nature Methods 9(7): 671–75. doi:10.1038/nmeth.2089
Shennan, S. 2008. Quantifying archaeology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
SUGIHARA S．杉原荘介. 1961. 日本農耕文化の生成 Nihon Nōkō Bunka no Seisei. (Theformation of Japanese agriculture) Tokyo: Tōkyōdo.
Wang, L. & B. Marwick. 2020. Standardization of ceramic shape: a case study of Iron Age
pottery from northeastern Taiwan. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 33.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102554
WATANABE Y., et al. 2019. Analysis of whole Y-chromosome sequences reveals theJapanese population history in the Jomon period. Sci. Rep. 9: 8556 (2019). https://doi.
org/10.1038/s41598-019-44473-z
Webster, M. & H.D. Sheets. 2010. A practical introduction to landmark-based geometricmorphometrics. The Paleontological Society Papers (16): 163–188. doi:10.1017/
s1089332600001868
YANE Y．家根祥多. 1984. Jomon dokki kara yayoi dokki e (From Jomon pottery to Yayoi
pottery),「縄文土器から弥生土器へ」, Jomon kara Yayoi e (From Jomon to Yayoi)『縄文から弥生へ』: 49–78. Nara: Archeological Institute of Tezukayama University 帝塚
山考古学研究所．

Excavation Reports
Fukuoka City Board of Education—Cultural Aﬀairs Division—Itazuke Site Survey Oﬃce.
1975. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke Site
and its Vicinity No.2]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会文化課板付遺跡調査事務所 1975『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書 (2) 』福岡市教育委員会———. 1977. Itazuke [Excavation Report of the Itazuke Site]. Fukuoka City Board of
Education. 福岡市教育委員会文化課板付遺跡調査事務所 1977『板付周辺遺跡調査報
告書 (4)』福岡市教育委員会
Fukuoka City Board of Education. 1976a. Itazuke [Excavation Report of the Itazuke Site].
Fukuoka City Board of Education 福岡市教育委員会 1976『板付』福岡市教育委員会———. 1976b. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity No.3]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会 1976
『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書 (3)』福岡市教育委員会———. 1985. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity]. 福岡市教育委員会 1985『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書』福岡市教育委員会———. 1986. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会 1986『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書 (11) 』福岡市教育委員会———. 1987a. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity No.12]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会© Japanese Archaeological Association

29

James Frances LOFTUS III

1987『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書 (12) 』福岡市教育委員会———. 1987b. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity No.13]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会
1987『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書 (13) 』福岡市教育委員会———. 1997. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity No.18]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会
1997『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書第 18 集』福岡市教育委員会———. 1998. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity No.19]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会
1998『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書第 19 集』福岡市教育委員会———. 1999. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity No.20]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会
1999『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書第 20 集』福岡市教育委員会———. 2000. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity No.21]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会
2000『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書第 21 集 』福岡市教育委員会———. 2002. Itazuke shūhen iseki chōsa hōkokusho [Excavation Report of the Itazuke
Site and its Vicinity No.23]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会
2002『板付周辺遺跡調査報告書第 23 集』福岡市教育委員会———. 2010. Itazuke 10 [Excavation Report of the Itazuke Site No.10]. Fukuoka City
Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会 2010『板付 10』福岡市教育委員会———. 1995a. Sasai iseki 2 [Excavation Report of the Sasai Site No.2]. Fukuoka City
Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会 1995『雀居遺跡 2』福岡市教育委員会———. 1995b. Sasai iseki 3 [Excavation Report of the Sasai Site No.3]. Fukuoka City
Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会 1995『雀居遺跡 3』福岡市教育委員会———. 2000. Sasai iseki 5 [Excavation Report of the Sasai Site No.5]. Fukuoka City
Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会 2000『雀居遺跡 5』福岡市教育委員会———. 2001. Sasai iseki 6 [Excavation Report of the Sasai Site No.6]. Fukuoka City
Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会 2001『雀居遺跡 6』福岡市教育委員会———. 2003a. Sasai 7 [Excavation Report of the Sasai Site No.7]. Fukuoka City Board of
Education. 福岡市教育委員会 2003『雀居 7』福岡市教育委員会———. 2003c. Sasai 9 [Excavation Report of the Sasai Site No.9]. Fukuoka City Board of
Education. 福岡市教育委員会 2003『雀居 9』福岡市教育委員会———. 2005. Shimotsukiguma C iseki 5 [Excavation Report of the Shimotsukiguma
C Site No. 5]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会 2005
『下月隈 C 遺跡 5』福岡市教育委員会———. 1996. Shimotsukigumatenjinmori III [Excavation Report of the
Shimotsukigumatenjinmori Site No. 3]. Fukuoka City Board of Education. 福岡市教育委員会 1996『下月隈天神森遺跡 III』福岡市教育委員会© Japanese Archaeological Association

30

MICRO-REGIONAL COMPLEXITIES IN YAYOI POTTERY FORM AS SEEN THROUGH MORPHOMETRIC STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Fukuoka Prefecture Board of Education. 1983. Ishizaki Magarita iseki 1 [Excavation
Report of the Ishizakimagarita Site No. 1]. Fukuoka: Fukuoka Prefecture Board of
Education. 福岡県教育委員会 1983『石崎曲り田遺跡 1』福岡県教育委員会———. 1984. Ishizaki Magarita iseki 2 [Excavation Report of the Ishizakimagarita Site
No. 2]. Fukuoka: Fukuoka Prefecture Board of Education. 福岡県教育委員会 1984
『石崎曲り田遺跡 2』福岡県教育委員会———. 1985. Ishizaki Magarita iseki 3 [Excavation Report of the Ishizakimagarita Site
No. 3]. Fukuoka: Fukuoka Prefecture Board of Education. 福岡県教育委員会 1985
『石崎曲り田遺跡 3』福岡県教育委員会
Karatsu City Board of Education. 1982. Nabatake iseki [Excavation Report of the
Nabatake Site]. Karatsu: Karatsu City Board of Education. 唐津市教育委員会 1982
『菜畑遺跡』唐津市教育委員会
Munakata City Board of Education. 2001. Togonoboritate 1 [Excavation Report of the
Togonoboritate Site]. Munakata: Munakata City Board of Education. 宗像市教育委員
会 2001『東郷登リ立 [1]』宗像市教育委員会
Ono City Board of Education. 1971. Naka Terao iseki [Excavation Report of the Naka
Terao Site]. Ono: Ono City Board of Education. 大野町教育委員会 1971『中・寺尾遺跡』大野町教育委員会
Onojo City Board of Education. 1977. Naka Terao iseki [Excavation Report of the Naka
Terao Site]. Onojo: Onojo City Board of Education. 大野町教育委員会 1977『中・寺尾遺跡』大野町教育委員会———. 1997. Goryōmaenoen iseki [Excavation Report of the Goryomaenoen Site].
Onojo: Onojo City Board of Education. 大野城市教育委員会 1997『御陵前ノ椽遺跡』
大野城市教育委員会———. 1999. Naka Terao iseki III [Excavation Report of the Naka Terao
Site]. Onojo: Onojo City Board of Education. 大野城市教育委員会 1999
『大野城市文化財調査報告書 54: 中・寺尾遺跡 III』大野城市教育委員会
Shimacho Board of Education. 1987. Shinmachi iseki [Excavation Report of the Shinmachi
Site]. Volume 7. Fukuoka: Shimacho Board of Education. 志摩町教育委員会 1987『新町遺跡』志摩町教育委員会
Tsuyazaki City Board of Education. 1981. Imagawa iseki [Excavation Report of the
Imagawa Site]. Tsuyazaki: Tsuyazaki City Board of Education. 津屋崎町教育委員会
1981『今川遺跡』津屋崎町教育委員会© Japanese Archaeological Association31