Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-019-0308-8(2019) 6:63

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Progress in Earth andPlanetary Science

Open AccessClimatic reconstruction at the SannaiMaruyama site between Bond events 4 and3—implication for the collapse of thesociety at 4.2 ka event
Hodaka Kawahata

Abstract
The Jōmon period/culture corresponds to the Neolithic period/culture in Japanese prehistory. The Sannai-Maruyamasite (5.9–4.2 cal. kyr BP), the most famous, the largest, and the well-studied mid-Holocene (mid-Jōmon) archeologicalsite inhabited by hunter-gatherers with sedentary lifestyle in northern Japan, started at early Bond event 4 andcollapsed at late Bond event 3 (4.2 cal. kyr BP at the boundary between mid-Holocene, Northgrippian, and lateHolocene, Meghalayan), synchronous with the decline of the north Mesopotamian civilization and the Yangtze
River civilization in China. Alkenone sea surface temperatures (SSTs), a proxy for early-midsummer SSTs, generally
suggest that the early-midsummer SSTs (and atmospheric temperatures (ATs)) at 41° 00′ N, 140° 46′ E, about 20
km north to the Sannai-Maruyama site, located in Aomori Prefecture, peaked around 4.8–4.3 cal. kyr BP and showed
minima at 5.9 and 4.1 cal. kyr BP. In spite of some discrepancy in short periods, this feature is consistent withthat estimated from the assemblages of Ostracodas. δ18O value of benthic foraminifera of Nonionellina labradorica andNonionella stella, alkenone production flux, and pollen assemblages could reflect annual-based temperature, which
generally suggests that the climate was warmer at 6.0–4.2 cal. kyr BP, which could show the warmer environments at
6.0–5.0 cal. than expected from alkenone SST in early-midsummer. Overall, northward shift of the westerly jet,in association with a strengthened East Asian Summer Monsoon, could cause a relatively warm climate around 6.0–4.3
cal. kyr BP, when the Sannai-Maruyama site flourished. High food production density, by effective hansaibai (selective
preservation or growth) in Castanea- and Aesculus-dominated forests, up to one sixth of the rice production density,
could have supported high population density, resulting large community at the Sannai-Maruyama site. Coolingepisode at 4.2 cal. kyr BP could have resulted in the decline of chestnut hansaibai, leading to the collapse of thesite. Recent results from a compiled archeological site map suggested no large decline of the population but,instead, a dispersal to the surrounding area at 4.2 cal. kyr BP. It is consistent with ancestral population dynamics
for the descendent from Jōmon people, in contrast to those from the immigrants from Far East Asia to the JapaneseArchipelago with paddy rice cultivation technology after 2.9 cal. kyr BP, based on modern Japanese molecular sequences.
Keywords: 4.2 ka event (Northgrippian/Meghalayan boundary), Asian Summer Monsoon, Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup,
Alkenone, Hunter-fisher-gatherer, Jōmon, Yayoi, Bond event 3

Correspondence: kawahata@aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo,
Kashiwanoha 5-1-5, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, andreproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

Introduction
Background

The post-glacial period of the last 11.7 kyrs, the Holocene,is characterized by the worldwide expansion of Homo sapiens and the development of civilizations, the oldest ofwhich developed in eastern Africa around 200 kyrs ago(e.g., McDougall et al. 2005). It has been proposed that the
Holocene can be sub-classified into Early, Middle, andLate stages, with an Early-Middle Holocene Boundary at
8.2 cal. kyr BP and a Middle-Late Holocene Boundary at
4.2 cal. kyr BP, by a Working Group of INTIMATE (International Commission on Stratigraphy). Each stage islinked to a Global Stratotype Section and Point (Walker
et al. 2012). The former and latter boundaries generally
correspond to Bond event 5 and late Bond event 3,
respectively, since the Holocene climate was largely stable,
but fluctuated appreciably with a cycle of 1500 ± 500 years(Bond et al. 2001). Especially, the Middle-Late Holocene
boundary at 4.2 cal. kyr BP receives much attention
because it coincides with a cultural shift caused by a global
climate event.
Pottery is generally accepted as the main criterion for
the Neolithic Epoch in the hunter-fisher-gatherer continuum of East Asian prehistory, where pottery preceded

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agriculture by several millennia. In contrast, plant andanimal husbandry developed prior to the emergence ofpottery in the Near East, while pottery and agriculture
appeared almost simultaneously in Europe (Kuzmin2006). The earliest known class of pottery decorated
with cord-pattern (jōmon) reliefs and stone arrowheads
was produced during the coldest period of northernmost
Honshu, Japan (Fig. 1a), around 16.0 cal. kyr BP (e.g.,
Nakamura et al. 2001; Kawahata et al. 2017a), when the
Jōmon culture, the earliest major prehistoric Japaneseculture, originated (Habu 2004). Among the best-known
and most-studied mid-Holocene Jōmon archeologicalsites is the Sannai-Maruyama site in northernmost
Honshu, Japan (Sannai Maruyama special historical site;
http://sannaimaruyama.pref.aomori.jp/english/) (Fig. 1a,b). This site is particularly reputed for the exceptionallylarge permanent settlement (0.42 km2), larger than any
other hunter-fishing-gatherer settlement of the 90,531
known Jōmon sites (The Agency for Cultural Affairs of
the Japanese Government 2014;https://www.nabunken.go.
jp/nabunkenblog/2014/06/tanken23.html; JOMON JAPAN;
https://jomon-japan.jp/en/). It is highly likely that hansaibai(selective preservation or growth) of the Castanea crenata(chestnuts) and Aesculus turbinate (horse chestnuts) trees

Fig. 1 a Map of the Japan Sea and the North Pacific around the Japanese Islands, including Honshu and Hokkaido. The paths of the Tsushima,
Oyashio, and Kuroshio Currents are indicated. The route of the Kuroshio Current follows Jian et al. (2000). Honshu is the central and largest of thefour main islands of Japan while Hokkaido is the second largest. The location of the Toro site (solid square) and Suigetsu lake (open square),central Japan, is also shown. b Locations (solid circle) of the core KT05-7 PC-02 site (41° 00′ N, 140° 46′ E; water depth, 61 m) and the SannaiMaruyama archeological site (open circle). Bathymetric isolines are at 200 m depth intervals. The location (cross) of the St. 5 site (42° 23′ 59.377″ N;
140° 24′) in Funka Bay is also shown. Sannai-Maruyama was designated a Special National Historical Site in Japan in 2000 (Sannai Maruyama
special historical site; http://sannaimaruyama.pref.aomori.jp/english/, a and b)

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

was adapted as a food source to support the large population, although it has also been suggested that such agriculture was never introduced in the Jōmon period in Japan(Nakao 1976; Kitagawa and Yasuda 2004). Occupation of
the site began around 5.9 ± 0.1 cal. kyr BP (coinciding withearly Bond event 4), soon after the eruption of the Towada
volcano (Fig. 1b) at 6.0 cal. kyr BP. It expanded to include
many large communities and reach its population maximum at 5.2–5.0 cal. kyr BP. Some archeological researches
have revealed that the Jōmon people extended the exploitation of plant food and marine resources and even carriedout some management of environments and species (e.g.,
Tsuji 2001; Sato and Ishikawa 2004; Habu and Hall 2013).
As a result, the organizational complexity in subsistence
and settlement, reaching its high point with the population
size, was suggested to have undergone significant expansion. Nonetheless, the community collapsed around 4.2 ±0.1 cal. kyr BP (Habu 2004, 2008), at late Bond event 3,
coinciding with a sudden cooling by 2.0 °C induced by thechange of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM)(Fig. 2a, b) (Kawahata et al. 2009b; Kariya et al. 2016).
Around this time, it was also reported that Suigetsu Lake,on the Japanese coast, about 700 km from the SannaiMaruyama site, received frequent heavy rainfall (Fig. 1a)(Suzuki et al. 2016; Suzuki 2017). The Sannai-Maruyamasite then remained uninhabited until the early warm Heian
Period (nine to tenth century AD), great flourishing period
in Japanese culture from literature to paintings (Sannai
Maruyama special historical site; http://sannaimaruyama.
pref.aomori.jp/english/) (Kawahata et al. 2017a, b).
Concomitantly, Sumer, arguably the first urban
civilization in the world, emerged in southern Mesopotamia during the Uruk period (5.9 cal. kyr BP), located on
the floodplain of the lower reaches of the Tigris andEuphrates rivers (Chandler 1987). At the same time, aNorth Atlantic cooling episode from ice-rafted debris at
5.9 cal. kyr BP caused one of the most intense Holocene
aridification events in this region (Bond et al. 1997). The
initial desiccation appeared in the Sahara at 5.9 cal. kyr
BP, after previously humid conditions from 10.0 to 6.0
cal. kyr BP. This may have triggered events leading to
the Early Dynastic period of ancient Egypt (Malvilleet al. 1998; Jolly et al. 1998; Claussen et al. 1999).
Another important boundary at 4.2 cal. kyr BP occurred
when an abrupt change to a cold and dry climate significantly influenced the collapse of the Neolithic culture in
the Gansu-Qinghai region of China (Liu et al. 2010).
Drought was widespread at 4.2 cal. kyr BP across Egypt
and much of Africa, and this event may have beencaused by weak monsoons induced by a change in thecirculation of the North Atlantic (e.g., Gasse 2000). The
episode led to its current climate and resulted in a temporary collapse of Egyptian civilization during pyramidbuilding in the Old Kingdom. Droughts and fires plagued

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the region, causing famine and social unrest at 4.2 cal.
kyr BP (Stanley et al. 2003; Riel 2008). The Uruk period
existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early
Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia (6.0–
5.2 cal. kyr BP). In this area, the Akkadian Empire (4.3–
4.15 cal. kyr BP) was the first ancient empire andprosperous country. However, this aridification was very
likely to have also caused the collapse of the Akkadian
Empire in Mesopotamia around 4.2 cal. kyr BP (e.g.,Parker et al. 2006). It has been proposed that its onset
could have resulted from the cooling event in the North
Atlantic, known as Bond event 3 (Alley and Ágústsdóttirab 2005). All these cultures experienced a major population decrease at approximately the same time due toaridification, often associated with cold climates (Walker
et al. 2012), and generally similar to that estimated inJapan (Fig. 3b) (Biraben 1993, 2005; Kito 2000).
Problematic

Temperature is one of the most important environmental parameters. Alkenone sea surface temperatures (SST)and Ostracoda assemblages suggest warmer environments in the latter half of the period, between early
Bond event 4 and late Bond event 3 in Mutsu Bay(Kawahata et al. 2009b; Irizuki et al. 2015). In contrast,
the relative abundance of Castanea suggests colder environments in the same period (Fig. 2h). Chestnuts andhorse chestnuts were important food for the Jōmon
people, and it has been proposed that they were protectedby hansaibai (derived from han and Saibai, i.e., half cultivation) (Nakao 1976; Kitagawa and Yasuda 2004). The
northern limit of the distribution of Castanea, controlled
by atmospheric temperature, is located in northernmost
Honshu. Chestnut production was affected strongly by
warmth of the climate or the relevant weather (Kitagawa
and Yasuda 2004). Food availability and diversity, influenced by the climate, might, therefore, have controlled theprosperity/collapse of the site (Habu and Hall 2013).
Although hunter-fisher-gatherers generally prefer an unsettled life, the large settlement size at Sannai-Maruyama
suggests that a population center existed here for sometime. After its collapse at 4.2 cal. kyr BP, there is a contention as to whether these people died out at late Bond
event 3 or dispersed to smaller villages without significant
overall population change in the Aomori Plain (Fig. 3b, c)(Sekine 2014).
Objective

The change in climate known as the 4.2 ka event (e.g.,
deMenocal 2001; Walker et al. 2012), corresponding tolate Bond event 3, has received much attention because
it is the boundary of the mid-Holocene (Northgrippian)and late-Holocene (Meghalayan) defined by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in July 2018 andKawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary ScienceFig. 2 (See legend on next page.)(2019) 6:63

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Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

Page 5 of 18(See figure on previous page.)
Fig. 2 Time series records of a alkenone SSTs and estimated ATs in Mutsu Bay with age-controlling points represented in solid reversed triangles(Kawahata et al. 2009b); b alkenone SSTs and ATs at St. 5 Funka Bay (Kawahata 2017); c content of hematite-stained grains as drift ice indices in
the north Atlantic with the number of Bond events (Bond et al. 1997); d relative abundances of Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica; e
the first factor (VF1) of ostracods (Irizuki et al. 2015); f δ18O values of benthic foraminifera (Nonionella stella (Cushman) and Nonionellina
labradorica (Dawson)); g δ 13C values of benthic foraminifera (N. stella (Cushman) and N. labradorica (Dawson)); h relative abundances ofCastanea, Picea, and Abies (Kawahata et al. 2009b); i Gini-Simpson index for pollen (upper: including Castenea, lower: excluding Castenea); and jaccumulation rate of alkenone (Kawahata et al. 2009b). In the upper column, periods are classified based on the SST: periods 8 (8.3–7.9 cal. kyr
B.P.), 6 (7.0–5.9 cal. kyr B.P.), 4 (5.1–4.1 cal. kyr B.P.), and 2 (2.3–1.4 cal. kyr B.P.) were characterized by warm alkenone SSTs with mean values of 23.4,
23.4, 23.8, and 23.5 °C, respectively. In contrast, periods 7 (7.9–7.0 cal. kyr B.P.), 5 (5.9–5.1 cal. kyr B.P.), and 3 (4.1–2.3 cal. kyr B.P.) were characterizedby cold alkenone SSTs with mean values of 21.6, 22.8, 22.9, and 22.7 °C, respectively (Kawahata et al. 2009b). Orange and yellow shadings
represent very and relatively warm environments, respectively, after the sea level was stabilized around 6.2 cal. kyr BP. The water-column structureof the Tsugaru Strait as reconstructed by Kuroyanagi et al. (2006) is shown in the second column. During 9.0–6.2 cal. kyr BP, the intensity of the
Tsugaru Warm Current (TWC) was weak and the subsurface water remained under the influence of the cold Oyashio Current. The modern
oceanographic regime was established at 6.2 cal. kyr BP, when the subsurface waters began to warm as a result of the enhanced flow rate of the
TWC. Only TWC flows along the Tsugaru Straight since 3.4 cal. kyr BP. Light gray shading represents water influenced by warm currents

has been cited as a plausible explanation for the collapseof major ancient civilizations in Egypt, the Indus Valley,
and Mesopotamia (Cullen et al. 2000; Stanley et al. 2003;
Staubwasser et al. 2003). However, the causal factors
behind them remain ambiguous. In this paper, the climatic/environmental fluctuation between early Bond
event 4 and late Bond event 3 in northern Japan is estimated using new data for the stable isotopic compositions of benthic foraminifera and the relative abundanceof coccoliths, as well as by re-evaluation of previously
published, but unexamined, Ostracoda and pollen data
and alkenone accumulation rate. Within this framework,
the relationship between the density of food production
and the prosperity/collapse of the site in association withclimate change-influenced “hansaibai” can be discussed.
Finally, the possibility of population dispersion to smallervillages is evaluated following the collapse of the maincommunity at the Sannnai-Maruyama site.

Study area and materials
Study area and sediment samples

Mutsu Bay is located in northernmost Honshu, Japan,
and is a shallow (mean depth, 40 m) bay measuring
1668 km2 with a relatively flat floor (gradient < 2°) (Ministry of the Environment; https://www.env.go.jp/water/
heisa/heisa_net/waters/mutuwan.html). It opens into the
Tsugaru Strait (sill depth, 130 m) that connects theJapan Sea with the northwestern North Pacific (Fig. 1b).
Monthly SSTs are 6–7 °C in February to March and 22–
24 °C in August to September, with an annual mean SST
of 15 °C (Japan Meteorological Agency; https://www.
data.jma.go.jp/gmd/kaiyou/data/db/kaikyo/series/engan/
engan130.html). During November to March, the uniform vertical profile reflects strong vertical mixing of thewater column. The salinity is 32.0–33.6 at the surface
and 33.2–34.0 at a depth of 30 m, because only small
riverine fluxes enter Mutsu Bay. The salinity is, thus,
comparable to that of the Tsugaru Strait (32.0–34.6)(Automatic monitoring system in Mutsu Bay; http://
www.mutsuwanbuoy.jp/observation/).
The warm Tsugaru Current is the main branch of the
Tsushima Current and significantly influences the oceanographic setting of Mutsu Bay and the Tsugaru Strait(Fig. 1a). The Sea of Japan was isolated from the open
ocean during glacial times due to the 130 m sill depth of
the Tsugaru Strait (Takei et al. 2002). It has experienceddifferent ocean environments in response to glacialinterglacial cycles (e.g., Sagawa et al. 2018; Tada et al.
2018; Irino et al. 2018). Rising sea levels established themodern oceanographic regime at 6.2–3.4 cal. kyr BP,
when subsurface waters began to warm as a result of theenhanced flow rate of the Tsushima Current (Kuroyanagi
et al. 2006).
The entire 865 cm length of the piston core PC-02 wascollected at 61 m water depth at 41° 00′ N, 140° 46′ E(Fig. 1b) during cruise KT05-7 of the R/V Tansei. The
core consists of very dark, greenish gray, homogeneousclay-grade sediment from the surface to 786 cm. One thinsand layer at 606–596 cm contains burrows, scatteredmollusk shells, and sea urchin fragments. The sediments
are comprised of very dark, grayish brown sandy silt or siltintercalated with sand layers from 786 to 855 cm and dark,olive gray, coarse sand below 855 cm, possibly representing dispersed ash layers (Kawahata et al. 2009b; Scudder
et al. 2016).
Recent meteorological data (1981–2010) collected at
Aomori City (40° 49′ N, 140° 45′ E, about 20 km southof the core site) show that monthly mean ATs have fluctuated between − 1.2 °C (January) and 23.3 °C (August),
with an annual and summer (June to September) mean
ATs of 10.4 °C and 20.2 °C, respectively (Japan Meteorological Agency; http://weather.time-j.net/Climate/Chart/
aomori). Average annual rainfall is 1290 mm, and theaverage annual duration of solar irradiation is 1687 h.
The land is covered with snow for approximately120
days each year. The prevailing wind direction is from thesouthwest except in June (when winds come from theKawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

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Fig. 3 Time series records of a alkenone SSTs and estimated ATs in
Mutsu Bay with age-controlling points represented in solid reversed
triangles (Kawahata et al. 2009b); b population (open circle)
estimated by Kito (2000) and Biraben (1993, 2005) and the relative
abundance of population at Jōmon sites (+) (Crèma et al. 2016); c
number of archeological sites in Aomori (Sekine 2014); d relative
population size of total Japanese people (solid line) by Saito (2017)
and relative female effective population size (dotted line) of
mitochondrial DNA haplogroups N9b and M7a, estimated by Peng
and Zhang (2011); e alkenone SSTs at MD06-3050 (27° 43.36′ N, 121°
46′ 88 E) in the inner shelf of the East China Sea, off river mouth of
the Yangtze river (Kajita et al. 2018); f sunspot numbers (Usoskin
et al. 2007); g the summer and winter daily insolation at 55° N in the
Northern Hemisphere for the last 8000 years (W m−2) (Berger 1978);and h ESR intensity of fine silt-sized quartz particles in Japan Sea
sediments (Nagashima et al. 2013), which is a proxy for thelatitudinal shift of westerly jet stream, related to latitudinal shift ofthe East Asian Monsoon. Thin and thick lines indicate original data
and the 3-point running mean, respectively. i δ18O of the Dongge
Cave stalagmites as a proxy for the intensity of the Far Eastern Asian
Summer Monsoon (Wang et al. 2005). Blue color shadings between
Bond events 4 and 3 in h and i represent southward shift ofwesterly jet and weaker summer monsoon, respectively

north-northwest) and July (when winds come from thenorth).
The Sannai-Maruyama archeological site

The Jōmon period (16.50–2.90 cal. kyr BP; hunter-fishergatherer period), based on analysis of the earliest known
Jōmon pottery (Habu 2004, 2008; Kosugi et al. 2009),
constitutes Japan’s Neolithic period. “Jōmon” pottery is
characterized by ceramics produced in an outdoor bonfire at a temperature of not more than approximately
900 °C. The Sannai-Maruyama site, located approximately 3 km south of Mutsu Bay (40° 49′ N, 140° 42′ E;
altitude, 17–20 m; Fig. 1b), has been extensively excavated, uncovering large pit-dwellings, adult burial pits,
burial jars for children, the remains of buildings supported
by large and medium sized pillars, and numerous remainsof animals and plants; no weapons have been found(Aomori Prefecture 2002). This evidence indicates thatthe site was permanently occupied by a large population
with a well-developed culture. Although the Jōmon people
are considered to have been semi-sedentary and collectedfood by hunting, fishing, and gathering, a few plant types,
including chestnuts and horse chestnuts, were cultivatedby hansiabai to support the large population (Kitagawa
and Yasuda 2004). In the hansaibai phase, people did notplant seeds intentionally, but rather, extensive stands weredeveloped by protecting trees from cutting (Nakao 1976).
Based upon the number of sites and houses, the firstorder estimates of the total population in Japan are ~ 20,000 in the early Jōmon (~ 8.0 cal. kyr BP), 260,000 in the
middle Jōmon (~ 5.0 cal. kyr BP), and 80,000 in the lateJōmon (2.5 cal. kyr BP) (Biraben 1993, 2005; Kito 2000)(Fig. 3c). Crèma et al. (2016) compiled many 14C-dated

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

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based on the high correlation between AT and alkenone
SST are available in Mutsu and Funka Bays with analyticalerrors of 0.3 °C.
Pollen and spores were analyzed by the method of
Kawahata and Ohshima (2002). To calculate the relative
abundance of pollen and spores in sediments (grainsg−1), ~ 1 g of a freeze-dried aliquot was weighed, andthen, 10% HCl was added to dissolve carbonates
followed by HF treatment to remove siliceous matter.
After density separation with ZnBr2, the samples weretreated by Erdtman’s acetolysis method and with 10%
NaOH. Microfossil slides of the treated material wereprepared by mounting in glycerin jelly. The palynologicalanalyses were carried out under a Nikon Optiphot-2
microscope at magnifications of × 150 and × 600. At least
253 grains (380 grains on average) of pollen and spores
were counted for each sample. Percentage values of eachtaxon were calculated in relation to the sum of the arboreal and nonarboreal (shrub and herb) pollen. A diversity
index is a quantitative measure that reflects how manydifferent species types are present in a particular pollen
dataset. The Gini-Simpson index for pollen was calculated
in core PC-02 (e.g., Gini 1912; Simpson 1949).

population proxies and tried to estimate population dynamics in the Aomori area, suggesting a rapid exponential increase between 6.0 and 5.5 cal. kyr BP, followed bya high density with some fluctuation between 5.5 and
4.1 cal. kyr BP and a decline with a large trough at 3.70
cal. kyr BP (Fig. 3b).

Analytical procedures

Methods of accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon
dating are described in Kawahata et al. (2009b). The useof marine shells requires the additional consideration ofreservoir age; however, this study estimated the age control without the residual reservoir age (ΔR) because
Mutsu Bay is almost entirely isolated from the open
ocean. ΔR from the Tsugaru Strait was estimated to be
34 ± 42 years (Yoneda et al. 2007). Raw 14C data fromshells were converted to calendar ages using the latest
version of the Marine13 database (Reimer et al. 2013)
and the OxCal 4.2.3 program (Ramsey 2009), the resultsof which are listed in Table 1.
Benthic foraminifera were used for stable isotope
measurements due to the low occurrence of planktic foraminifera. Thirty specimens of Nonionellina labradorica(Dawson) and 40–50 specimens of Nonionella stella(Cushman) were collected. The detailed procedure for
their study is as reported in Ohkushi et al. (2003). Analyses were conducted with an IsoPrime mass spectrometer
fitted with an on-line automated carbonate preparation
device (Micromass UK) found at the Geological Survey ofJapan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Scienceand Technology. The analytical precision of this system
was better than 0.03‰ for δ13C and δ18O (Ohkushi et al.
2003) (see Table 2). Sample gases were calibrated for every
run using the US National Institute of Standards andTechnology calcite standard (NBS-19) and are reported as
the per-mil deviation relative to the Vienna Pee Dee
Belemnite standard. Quantitative estimates of summer AT

Results and discussion
Early-midsummer temperature in Mutsu and Funka Baysaround 5.9–4.2 cal. kyr BP

Our discussion on SST focuses mainly on the period during which the Sannai-Maruyama site flourished (around
Bond events 4–3) (Table 2). Alkenone SSTs record earlymidsummer SSTs, when the highest biogenic production
occurs around northern Japan (Takahashi et al. 1995;
Kawahata et al. 2009a). Since paleo-SST was recently
reconstructed at St. 5 in Funka Bay (Kawahata 2017), located on the opposite side of the Tsugaru Strait (Kawahata2017), the SST can be evaluated for northernmost Honshu
and southernmost Hokkaido, where many northern

Table 1 Sampled species, core depths, and results of radiocarbon dating
Sample typeSpecific name

Sample no.

Depth (cm)14

Calendar age(cal. yrs BP)

Mollusca

Mizuhopecten yessoensis (Jay)

1–2

3.3

1080 ± 80

630 ± 70

Mollusca

Mizuhopecten yessoensis (Jay)

2–6

27.5

4030 ± 100

4051 ± 144

C age (yrs BP)

Benthic foraminifera

Mixed species

2–6

27.5

4170 ± 904259 ± 126

Mollusca

Leionucula tenuis (Montagu)

2–43

111.5

4930 ± 905263.5 ± 141

Mollusca

Ringiculina doliaris (Gould)

3–28

177.4

5600 ± 110

6016.5 ± 127

Benthic foraminifera

Mixed species

3–28

177.4

5610 ± 100

6017.5 ± 117

Mollusca

Mizuhopecten yessoensis (Jay)

4–15

248.6

6160 ± 120

6591 ± 140

Mollusca

Mercenaria stimpsoni (Gould)

5–39

403.9

7830 ± 1108283 ± 109

Mollusca

Raetellops pulchellus (Adams & Reeve)

8–6

633.9

9450 ± 90

10,301.5 ± 106

Mollusca

Macoma cf. tokyoensis (Makiyama)

8–25

674.5

9490 ± 90

10,342.5 ± 113

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

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Table 2 Sampled core depths; ages; sea surface temperatures (SST); fluxes of C37 benthic foraminifera; relative abundance of pollens
including Castanea, Abies, and Picea; and relative abundance of coccoliths
Sample
no.

1–3

Depth
(cm)

Age
(cal.
yrs
BP)

3.3

0.63

5.5

0.95

C37
alkenone
SST (°C)

C37
alkenone
flux (μgcm−2
kyr−1)

22.5

0.12

N. labradorica
δ

18

O (‰)

Gephyrocap
oceanica(‰)

Emiliania
huxleyi(‰)

The othercoccoliths
(‰)

74.3

18.9

6.8

79.7

20.3

0

− 2.01

81.1

13.5

5.4

− 1.89

86.5

12.2

1.4

68.9

31.1

0

89.2

8.1

2.7

82.4

12.2

5.4

73

24.3

2.7

78.4

20.3

1.4

68.9

27

4.1

82.4

16.2

1.4

81.1

16.2

2.7

68.9

29.7

1.4

54.1

45.9

0

67.6

21.6

10.8

N. Stella
δ

13

C (‰)

δ

18

O (‰)

δ

13

C (‰)

1.99

− 0.942.42− 2.161.94− 1.142.56− 2.08

1–4

7.7

1.27

22.7

0.12

2.10

− 0.702.39− 2.10

1–5

9.9

1.59

23.4

0.14

2.09

− 0.892.56− 2.23

1–6

12.1

1.91

23.6

0.25

2.05

− 0.712.66− 2.00

1–7

14.3

2.23

23.6

0.13

1.98

− 0.932.35− 2.25

2–1

16.1

2.50

22.2

0.08

1.85

− 0.89

2–2

18.4

2.83

22.9

0.10

1.99

− 0.77

2.52

2–3

20.7

3.16

22.8

0.09

1.91

− 1.002.59− 2.22

2–4

23.0

3.49

22.3

0.14

1.76

− 0.822.49− 2.45

2–5

25.2

3.82

22.7

0.21

2–7

29.8

4.18

23.3

1.44

1.92

− 0.872.50− 2.26

2–10

36.6

4.27

24.0

1.11

2.09

− 0.882.47− 1.86

2–13

43.8

4.37

24.1

1.37

1.98

− 0.902.48− 2.33

2–16

50.2

4.45

24.0

0.42

2.08

− 0.992.46− 2.15

2–19

57.0

4.54

23.5

1.89

2.29

− 0.682.55− 2.18

2–22

63.8

4.63

23.7

1.14

2.23

− 1.032.47− 2.18

2–25

70.6

4.72

23.5

1.54

2.14

− 1.202.54− 2.17

72.9

4.75

2.30

− 0.87

77.4

4.81

24.1

1.24

2.03

− 0.862.46− 2.432.46− 2.98− 1.052.52− 2.40

2–28
2–31

84.2

4.90

23.4

1.16

2–32

86.5

4.93

24.1

1.18

2.06

2–34

91.1

4.99

23.3

1.01

2.05

− 1.05

2–36

95.6

5.05

23.7

1.11

1.91

− 1.18

2–37

97.9

5.08

23.8

1.86

2.16

− 1.22

2–38

100.1

5.11

24.2

0.80

2–40

104.7

5.17

23.5

1.12

2–42

109.2

5.23

23.6

1.17

111.5

5.26

116.1

5.32

23.1

3.11

3–1
3–5

125.2

5.42

3–7

129.8

5.47

23.0

3.18

138.8

5.58

22.6

2.70

147.9

5.68

3–11

2.49

− 2.501.99− 1.552.53− 2.96

1.86− 1.502.45− 2.962.04− 1.442.34− 2.93

1.55− 1.352.58− 2.481.88− 1.502.54− 2.961.76− 1.952.36− 3.40

3–19

157.0

5.78

22.7

2.22

1.99

− 1.672.40− 3.47

3–23

166.1

5.89

22.6

2.99

1.77

− 1.842.43− 3.54

3–25

170.6

5.94

21.9

3.07

2.01

− 1.672.23− 3.06

3–29

179.7

6.04

23.9

4.98

2.12

− 1.692.19− 3.28

3–32

187.5

6.10

22.2

3.67

2.47

− 3.46

3–35

193.3

6.15

23.0

3.75

2.60

− 3.26

3–39

202.4

6.22

23.7

1.50

2.44

− 3.682.21− 1.97

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

Page 9 of 18

Table 2 Sampled core depths; ages; sea surface temperatures (SST); fluxes of C37 benthic foraminifera; relative abundance of pollens
including Castanea, Abies, and Picea; and relative abundance of coccoliths (Continued)
Sample
no.

Depth
(cm)

Age
(cal.
yrs
BP)

C37
alkenone
SST (°C)

C37
alkenone
flux (μgcm−2
kyr−1)

3–43

211.5

6.29

22.0

5.02

4–1

216.6

6.33

23.9

1.37

4–5

225.8

6.41

23.4

2.84

4–7

230.8

6.45

4–11

239.4

6.52

4–14

246.3

6.57

23.1

N. labradorica
δ

18

O (‰)

1.83

N. Stella
δ

13

C (‰)

δ

18

O (‰)

δ

13

C (‰)

2.47

− 4.94− 3.932.13− 1.752.52
2.52− 2.972.35− 2.322.47− 3.80

3.23

4–17

253.1

6.64

23.8

1.61

2.48

− 3.33

260.0

6.71

23.3

1.08

2.60

− 2.95

23.9

0.79

4–24

269.1

6.81

275.9

6.89

4–30

282.8

6.96

24.0

1.05

4–35

294.2

7.09

22.7

1.72

4–38

301.0

7.16

23.0

0.66

4–41

307.8

7.24

5–2

319.9

7.37

5–4

324.5

7.42

23.1

2.02

1.90

− 1.94− 1.770.76

2.59− 3.432.74− 3.452.53− 2.76

2.61− 3.552.67− 4.492.78− 3.53

5–8

333.5

7.52

22.8

0.73

2.87

− 3.58

5–15

349.4

7.69

22.4

0.58

2.67

− 3.862.87− 4.45

23.0

0.52

2.86

− 4.24

5–19

358.5

7.79

5–21

363.0

7.84

Emiliania
huxleyi(‰)

The othercoccoliths
(‰)

70.3

23

6.8

73

24.3

2.7

55.4

39.2

5.4

47.3

48

4.7

70.3

25.7

4.1

71.6

21.6

6.8

− 2.82

4–20

4–27

Gephyrocap
oceanica
(‰)

5–25

372.1

7.94

24.2

0.52

2.64

− 3.72

5–27

376.7

7.99

23.6

0.54

2.79

− 3.88

Original data of Alkenone SST and pollen are from Kawahata et al. (2009b)

Jōmon sites existed (Fig. 2b) (JOMON JAPAN; https://jomon-japan.jp/en/).
Mutsu Bay showed a millennial cycle of alkenone SST
fluctuation with warm periods during 7.0–5.9 cal. kyr BP(av. 23.4 °C) and 5.1–4.1 cal. kyr BP (av. 23.8 °C) and cold
periods during 5.9–5.1 cal. kyr BP (av. 22.9 °C) and 4.1–
2.3 cal. kyr BP (22.7 °C) (Kawahata et al. 2009b) (Fig. 2a;Table 2). The mean VF1 value was enhanced in 7.7–7.1
and 5.9–5.3 cal. kyr BP and reduced in 6.7–6.1 and 4.9–
4.1 cal. kyr BP (Fig. 2e). In spite of some discrepancy
around 5.1–4.9 cal. kyr BP, the general pattern of SST
was fundamentally found to coincide with patterns in
the assemblage of Ostracoda, successful zooplankton
that live mainly in cool-temperate to subarctic surface
water in the northwestern Pacific (e.g., Ozawa et al.
2004; Zenina 2009) (Fig. 2e). Q-mode factor analysis
using an ostracod proportion matrix determined that thefirst factor (VF1) accounts for 59.7% of the total varianceand was characterized by highly positive factor scores ofcryophilic bay species, such as Yezocythere hayashii(Irizuki et al. 2015). This species inhabits the Great Bay
in Russia, at water depths of 13.5–72.5 m and water temperatures of 1.71–17.85 °C (Schornikov and Zenina2014). It lives where summer water temperatures are <22 °C and winter water temperatures are < 7 °C (Ozawa
et al. 2004); therefore, the VF1 tends to decrease as the
SST increases (Irizuki et al. 2015). The profile (Fig. 2b)
was strikingly similar to that of alkenone SSTs in Funka
Bay, showing maxima around 6.5 and 4.5 cal. kyr BP andminima around 5.8 and 4.0 cal. kyr BP. Both graphs appear to be parallel if the reason for the difference of SST
is attributable to latitude by 1° 30′.
The SST fluctuation was also consistent with the relative
abundances of coccolith species. Although alkenones in
the ocean are derived mainly from the prymnesiophyte
coccolithophorids Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa
oceanica, E. huxleyi can tolerate lower temperatures thanG. oceanica (Mclntyre and Be 1967), and thus, the growthrate of E. huxleyi below 20 °C is higher than that of G.
oceanica (Rhodes et al. 1995). Consequently, E. huxleyi is

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

Page 10 of 18

dominant in the northern North Pacific (Harada et al.
2012). The relative abundance of G. oceanica, a major
coccolithophore in this core, showed broad maxima at
6.7–6.3 and 5.2–3.9 cal. kyr BP, when E. huxleyi showed
minimum abundances (Fig. 2d).
Aomori City provides hourly vertical SST, salinity, andother marine data using an automated monitoring system at east bay buoy site (41° 5′ N, 140° 59′ E) (Aomori
fishery research institute, http://www.aomori-itc.or.jp/
uminavi/), where SST shows a very high correlation with
AT in the semi-enclosed Mutsu Bay in March to August.
Therefore, the combined lines of evidence stated above
generally suggest that the reconstructed SSTs (ATs) inearly-midsummer peaked at around 6.5 and 4.8–4.3 cal.
kyr BP and that the environments were cooler at 7.0,
5.9, and 4.1 cal. kyr BP in the Jōmon sites surrounding
the Tsugaru Strait (Fig. 2a).
Annual temperature in Mutsu Bay

The δ18O values measured in N. labradorica ranged
from 2.61 to 5.61‰, averaging 3.88‰ (Fig. 2f, Table 2).
The values fluctuated over the last 7.0 kyr. Highresolution analysis between 7.0 and 4.0 cal. kyr BP foundmaxima at 6.41–5.90 cal. kyr BP and 4.89–4.41 cal. kyr
BP and a minimum at 5.85–4.95 cal. kyr BP. However,N. stella δ18O values were 2.19–2.74‰ and average
2.50‰ (Fig. 2f). This value gradually decreased from 7.0
to 6.0 cal. kyr BP, with a small maximum during 6.0–
5.35 cal. kyr BP. After 4.79 kyr BP, the value remained
constant.
Oxygen isotope values of benthic foraminiferal calcite
provide a quantitative temperature estimate. The oxygenisotope value of biogenic carbonate is mainly controlled
by temperature (T, °C) and the oxygen isotope composition (‰) of seawater (O’Neil et al. 1969) as follows:
T ¼ 16:9−4:38ðδ c−δ wÞ þ 0:1ðδ c−δ wÞ2

ð1Þ

where δ c and δ w represent the δ18O of calcite and seawater, respectively. The water mass in the Tsugaru Strait
in the mid-Holocene after 6.2 cal. kyr BP has been controlled by one branch of the Tsushima Current, and thesalinity-δ18O relationship of water has been reported
from seawater samples (Kim et al. 2005). This relationship is as follows:
δ18 Osa ¼ 0:24  Salinity−8:13

ð2Þ

where δ18Osa is the δ18O of each water sample. Currently, the Tsushima Current of the Tsugaru Peninsula
has a salinity of approximately 34.5–34.7 in the summer(Ogawa 1974; however, Mutsu Bay has higher salinity
water near the seafloor (Otani and Terao 1973). The
δ18O values of seawater are generally linked to thehydrological cycle and are, thus, a function of evaporation,

atmospheric vapor transport and return of freshwater tothe ocean via precipitation, runoff, or melting icebergs(Horikawa et al. 2015). However, the water mass in Mutsu
Bay is more dependent on the Tsugaru Current. According to the marine dataset recorded by the automatedmonitoring system in Mutsu Bay, its salinity is approximately 33.8 (Aomori fishery research institute; http://
www.mutsuwanbuoy.jp/timeseries/), which converts to a
δ18O value of − 0.018‰. This value is comparable to theobserved value (+ 0.2%) of the Tsushima Current (Obaet al. 1991) and is higher than that (− 1.0%) of the Oyashio
Current (Chinzei et al. 1987). The conversion factor fromthe Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (V-SMOW) to
the Vienna Standard Pee Dee Belemnite (V-PDB) scale
was performed according to Bemis et al. (1998):
δ18 O ðV−PDBÞ ¼ 0:9998
 δ18 O ðV−SMOWÞ−0:2 ½‰:
ð3ÞThe benthic foraminifera N. labradorica have had calcification temperatures of 7.8 °C for the last 1 kyr, whichis comparable to the annual bottom water temperatureof 7.5 °C at 61 m estimated from the extrapolation fromwater temperatures at 30 m (11.5 °C) and 40 m (10.2 °C)
depth at at east bay buoy site (Fig. 2f). Both dwell on theseafloor in the northern North Pacific, Japan Sea, andSea of Okhotsk (Inoue 1980). N. labradorica consistently
exhibits subsurface maxima between 1.0 and 2.0 cm,
whereas N. stella is widely distributed on the continental
shelf and thrives in the deeper subsurface and/or more
oxygen-depleted (< 2 μM) sediments of the Santa Barbara Basin (Alve and Bernhard 1995). This difference issupported by the lower δ13C values obtained for N. stellarelative to those of N. labradorica (Fig. 2g). Therefore,the δ18Osa of N. labradorica and N. stella can be taken
to represent the annual mean temperature of bottom
water and the relevant subsurface sediments, respectively(Fig. 2f). Whereas temperatures in the subsurface sediments were constant over the last 7 kyr, the annual
mean temperature of bottom water was estimated tohave been highest at 6.0 cal. yr BP before, decreasing at
4.5 cal. yr BP by several degrees (Fig. 2f). This cooling
trend was semi-quantitatively correlated with alkenone
flux, which is generally controlled by SST and the supply
rate of nutrients. According to sediment trap experiments, alkenone production almost stopped during cold
winter-spring seasons in this area (Kawahata et al.
2009a). Probably, annual-based warmer environments
were expected to enhance alkenone flux at 6.4–5.2 cal.
kyr BP (Fig. 2j).
Castanea is an important taxon of warm-temperature
deciduous trees (e.g., Kitagawa and Yasuda 2004). In
contrast, Picea and Abies, which are widespread inKawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

northern temperate and boreal climates, are proxies fora relatively cold subarctic climate (Fig. 2h). Both were
negatively correlated with Castanea (r = 0.60 and 0.48,
respectively) (Table 2) and showed that the climate was
warmer at 5.9–4.2 cal. kyr BP, then suddenly cooled
down. Accordingly, the period at 6.0–5.0 cal. kyr BPmight show annual-based warmer environments than
expected from alkenone SST in early-midsummer. Overall, both proxy groups propose that the Jōmon people
living at the Sannai-Maruyama site would generally haveenjoyed a warmer climate that led to improved living
conditions between Bond events 4 and 3.

Temperature change in relation to the intensity of the
Asian Summer Monsoon during the mid-Holocene

Fluctuation of the intensity of the Asian Summer Monsoon can be evaluated around Bond events 4 and 3. At
first glance, a broad maximum in SSTs (ATs) around
5.0–4.2 cal. kyr BP, the Mid-Holocene Hypsithermal
environment, can be clearly associated with a slightly increase in sunspot numbers although the summer (winter)daily insolation gradually declined (increased) during thelast 8 kyr (Fig. 3a, f, g). Sunspot numbers estimated fromvariations in tree ring Δ14C variation generally provide agood proxy for solar output variations (Fig. 3f). Whensunspot numbers increase, the solar output increases(Usoskin et al. 2007). However, it is well known that solar
radiation alone is too small to explain the amplitude ofenvironmental fluctuation seen during this period. Additional factors such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation
and/or the Asian Monsoon are required to amplify the effects and/or to trigger globally significant climatic change(e.g., Emile-Geay et al. 2007; Beaufort and Grelaud 2017;
Clift 2017).
Considering short-term variations, two SST minima at
5.9 and 4.2 cal. kyr BP roughly correspond to early Bond
event 4 and late Bond event 3, respectively, resulting
from the North Atlantic cooling episodes identified from
ice-rafted debris (Fig. 2c) (Bond et al. 1997). The forcing
mechanisms are, however, less obvious than those at 8.2
ka BP (Bond event 5), when massive volumes of freshwater were released into the North Atlantic (Fig. 2c)(Alley and Ágústsdóttirab 2005). There are no systematic
correlations with average summer and winter insolation,
volcanic aerosols, or increases in atmospheric CO2. It issuggested that southward migration of the Intertropical
Convergence Zone might account for the low latitude
aridity during Bond events (Mayewski et al. 2004) andthat this would be in correlation with the increase instrength of the westerlies over the North Atlantic, enhanced precipitation, and consequent glacier advance inwestern North America, resulting in a 1–2 °C cooling of
the North Atlantic surface waters (Bond et al. 1997). At

Page 11 of 18

present, this event inhibits and weakens the Asian
Monsoon (e.g., Tada and Murray 2016).
In contrast, an increased EASM could create heat
energy and moisture from lower to middle latitudes in
Far East Asia and the western Pacific (Qui et al. 2017).
According to a simulation study, the EASM was significantly enhanced during the middle Holocene and characterized by increased southerly winds in eastern China,
resulting in more rainfall in northern China with slight
reductions in rainfall in southern China (Liu et al. 2014).
The analysis of the relative latitudinal shift of the westerly jet from the electron spin resonance (ESR) signal ofeolian dust from Chinese deserts showed large southward shifts around 6.1 and 5.1 cal. kyr BP and in 4.5–4.0
cal. kyr BP especially between Bond events 4 and 3,
resulting in a southward migration of the EASM rainband (Fig. 3h) (Nagashima et al. 2013). In this condition,
the mid to higher latitude in Far East Asia could experience cool arid climates (e.g., Tada et al. 2016). The result
is consistent with the reduction of the EASM to around
6.1, 4.7, and 4.2 cal. kyr BP (Bond events 4 and 3), as
deduced from δ18O records of stalagmites in Dongge
cave (Fig. 3i) (Wang et al. 2005).
There were periods of drought between 6.2 and 5.9 cal.
yr BP along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze
in China (Wang and Huang 2006; Wang et al. 2014).
The environmental record from Qinghai Lake indicatedthat a relatively stable, warm, and humid climate at
5.83–4.90 cal. kyr BP provided conditions conducive tothe development of the late Neolithic Majiayao Culturenear the upper Yellow River in China. This period had
the warmest temperatures and highest precipitation during the Holocene (Liu et al. 2010, 2014). Drought developed at 4.9–4.7 cal. kyr BP and may have moved
eastward, continuing until around 4.0 cal. kyr BP. This isconsistent with the EASM estimated from the inner shelfof the East China Sea (Wang et al. 2014). Therefore, abroad northward shift of the westerly jet, in association
with strengthened EASM, could have fostered a relatively warm climate at 6.0–4.2 cal. kyr BP, when the
Sannai-Maruyama site flourished. Further investigationis needed to conduct the quantitative reconstruction of
the environmental parameters and evaluate the climatic
and/or environmental influences on human activity.
Prosperity of the Sannai-Maruyama site by highproduction density by hansaibai of Castanea trees

Hansaibai of Castanea and Aesculus trees has been suggested as a strategy for food production near many Jōmon
archeological site settlements in northernmost Honshu,
Japan (e.g., Nakao 1976). This is supported by the analysisof pollen assemblage, nut sizes and DNA of Castanea, andland use at the Sannai-Maruyama site (e.g., Tsuji 2001;
Sato and Ishikawa 2004). Archeologically, ecological works

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

emphasize the impacts of human activities on their surrounding environment. This is particularly relevant in
the context of Jōmon archeology because the Jōmon
people were clearly engaged in a significant level ofenvironmental management (Habu and Hall 2013). Actually, Jōmon people could grow trees rather easily(Nishida 1981; Yokoi 1989). Based upon pollen studies,
Castanea contributed more than 70% of the total pollen
at Sannai-Maruyama site from 5.05 to 4.10 cal. kyr BP
during warmer periods, in contrast to that of less than
5% in core PC-02 (Yoshikawa et al. 2006; Kawahata
et al. 2009b). Aesculus tree tended to be more common
along the valleys during relatively cold periods, contributing 30% of the total pollen (Kitagawa and Yasuda 2004,
2008). Castanea also served as an important building material. Six pillars approximately 1 m in diameter support alarge structure built at 4.6 cal. kyr BP (Sannai Maruyama
special historical site; http://sannaimaruyama.pref.aomori.
jp/english/). Northernmost Honshu, Japan, is near thenorthern limit of the Castanea distribution in Japan(Kitagawa and Yasuda 2004). Currently, its northern limitof the commercial production is approximately 38° N(Shiosawa 1988). Therefore, the Sannai-Maruyama location is outside the present geographical range of Castanea.
This demonstrates that from agricultural point of view,
AT would have been a critical factor for people living inthis area.
Food availability is a crucial factor for the evaluationof human activity from the basis of its production rateand density. Also it is hypothesized that the increase anddecrease in settlement size at Sannai-Maruyama werecorrelated with the development and decline of subsistence intensification, respectively, with a focus on a particular type of plant food (Habu and Hall 2013). The
community at the Sannnai-Maruyama site utilized foodresources such as nuts, fish, and a wide diversity ofplants. Niimi (1999) tried to conduct the first-grade
approximation estimates of population by assuming thatchestnuts are produced over 20 km2 at a density of 0.01
chestnut tree/m2 and that 80% of calories are supplied
from chestnut trees within 10 km walking distance ofthe site, from which it was suggested that approximately
2000 people might have survived in 200 km2 of the area.
This kind of the work provides a valuable image ofJōmon people, but the estimate might, however, be toohigh because a population density of 10 persons/km2 isalmost 10 times the estimated round number in ahunter-fisher-gatherer society. Other estimates suggest
1–2 person/km2 as a maximum, constrained by foodrequirement in the Jōmon society (Kito 2000).
Seafood would also have been a major food source innorthern Japan during the early Jōmon period due topoor vegetation in the cold climate (Kawahata et al.
2017b). This is supported by evidence that Jōmon

Page 12 of 18

pottery was predominantly used for cooking marine andfreshwater resources (Lucquin et al. 2016). Salmon andsole were particularly important protein sources for
Jōmon people because the former could be caught easily
during its annual upstream swim. Since the mean size of
salmon (3 kg) provides 2800 kcal, 260 salmon are required for annual required calories per person (7.3 × 105
k calories). In order to provide the required calories for
6 persons, 5 salmon, soles, or equivalent fish must becaught daily. Coastal fishing sites associated with Jōmon
settlements were generally small scale.
Chestnut is a high-calorie fruit (1.8 kcal/g) and is further enriched in protein; vitamins A, B1, B2, and C; andpotassium. If 1 Jōmon person required 2000 kcal/day, atotal of 7.3 × 105 kcal/year corresponded to 4.05 × 105 g/
year of chestnuts. If 1 chestnut tree produces 4000 g ofchestnuts, including 2800 g of edible part, it corresponds
to 5040 kcal. At a production of 80 g (100.8 kcal) ofchestnut/m2, 0.0072 km2 could be required to support 1
person for 1 year (Fig. 4a). If the rate was almost half ofthe modern production rate at that time, 0.015 km2
should be required. This value is nearly 60 times higher
than that (1 km2) required per person in the hunterfisher-gatherer community (Fig. 4a). Paddy rice farming
near permanent places of residence and metalworking
advance were characteristic of the Yayoi Period (2.9–1.6
cal. kyr BP), a Japanese prehistoric period that immediately followed the Jōmon period (Sato 2001; Kono 2006).
Since the calorie content of unpolished rice is 1.65 kcal/
g and the Yayoi people could produce 180 g (297 kcal)/
m2 at the Toro site (Fig. 1a), central Japan, almost one
third of its production at present, 0.0025 km2 could be
required to support 1 person per year (Video travel
guide of Japan; http://www.mustlovejapan.com/subject/toro_archaeological_site/) (Fig. 4c). These estimates suggest that hansaibai of Castanea should have provided asufficiently high production density—one sixths of therice production rate, but enough to settle at a single
place—and that a maximum of 90 persons might besupported only by chestnut at the Sannnai-Maruya site,
including the surrounding area (1 km2). Pollen analysis
in this study shows that Castanea constitutes only 5% of
the total grains of pollen in core PC-02 (Fig. 2h). If thisvalue is applied to the central part of the Aomori Plane(100 km2) at the same density, approximately 300 people
could be supported. Although these estimates haveappreciable error for the estimation, because horsechestnuts and wild game were also important additional
food, the function of hansaibai should be the subject of
future evaluation.
Although the Gini-Simpson index showed little change
in the assemblage of pollen around Bond events 4–3, awarm climate could have promoted increased growth ofCastanea whereas, during colder periods, Castanea may

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

Page 13 of 18

Fig. 4 Schematic diagram showing the area required for total calories (7.3 × 105 kcal/year) to support one person per year. a Hunter-fishergatherer societies in the Jōmon era generally required larger areas (more than 100 ha (1 km2)) due to low production density. In contrast, b
chestnut production by hansaibai could require only 1.5 ha due to high production density in Jōmon era. This value is only sixth times that (0.25ha) required by rice production in the Yayoi era (c). Thick black of outer frame lines represent the Jōmon society while the red dotted lines
represent the Yayoi society. Green squares represent high production density (b, c) while purple squares show low production density (a). In
general, Jōmon societies were characterized by low population density due to low food production density. In contrast, high production densityof chestnut by hansaibai influenced by warm climate allowed the settlement of the Sannnai-Maruya site at 5.9 cal. kyr BP (b) while cool climate
would have eventually collapsed the site at 4.2 cal. kyr BP, resulting in the dispersal of the population to smaller communities (a). Paddy ricebased societies in association with villages started at 2.9 cal. kyr BP in western Japan (c)have failed to reproduce and become susceptible todisease (Fig. 2h, i) (Shiosawa 1988). Although Aesculus
turbinate is able to survive at cooler climate than Castanea, it typically grows in the lowland, along small rivers(personal communication with Ms. Ito). Therefore, if
Castanea-dominated forests declined, the Jōmon people
might have found it challenging to settle at a single
place, as distances to collect food increased (Fig. 4b). Instead, it would have been more efficient to live scatteredover the Aomori Plain, according to the low density of
the food production due to cooler climate (Fig. 4a). Thissuggestion is consistent with the hypothesis that adecrease in subsistence and food diversity, which was a
result of subsistence specialization, made the SannaiMaruyama economic system more vulnerable to minorchanges in other variables (Habu and Hall 2013). Although other food sources and the quantitative efficiencyof hansaibai strategies have not been considered, theseestimates nonetheless provide a framework within which
to understand the correlation of population density with
Castanea-dominated forests together with hansaibai in
the Sannai-Maruyama site (Fig. 4b).
Dispersion of people at the Sannai-Maruyama site acrosslate Bond event 3

The prehistory of populations in the Japanese archipelago has only recently been reconstructed. Sekine (2014)

compiled an archeological site map with the number ofruins and pit dwellings provided by Aomori Prefecture
and analyzed the number of archeological sites andpopulation versus their age (Fig. 3c). Despite a dramatic
decline of AT, the number of archeological sites increasedin the Aomori Prefecture as a result of dispersion to small
villages. Interestingly, it is highly possible that the population never significantly changed from the last stage of the
middle Jōmon to the late stage of the late Jōmon, basedon estimates of the total floor space of the pit dwellings
excavated. The result is generally consistent with otherestimates of population changes in Aomori (Crèma et al.
2016) (Fig. 3b). In general, Jōmon societies were characterized by low population densities due to low food production densities. However, a high production density ofchestnuts by hansaibai, influenced by the warm climate,allowed the settlement of the largest Jōmon society at the
Sannnai-Maruya site at around 5.9 ka (Fig. 4b). Later, coolclimates would result in the collapse of the site, resulting
in the dispersal of people to smaller communities in thesurrounding area (Fig. 4a).
A haplotype is, in the simplest terms, a specific groupof genes that a progeny inherits from one parent. Analyses of the Jōmon skeletons in Hokkaido showed thatmitochondrial DNA haplogroups N9b, D4h2, G1b, andM7a were observed in individual samples, with N9b being predominant (Adachi et al. 2011; Takigawa 2012).

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

The fact that all these haplogroups, except M7a, wereobserved with relatively high frequency in the southeastern Siberians, but were absent in Southeastern Asian
populations, implies that most of the Hokkaido Jōmon
people could be direct descendants of Paleolithic Siberians. This is consistent with the N9b constituting about
60% of the Jōmon skeletons of the Tohoku (N = 20)(Adachi 2012; Takigawa 2012). Another Jōmon marker
is haplogroup M7a, which might, however, originate
from Southeast Asia (Shinoda 2015).
Recently, ancestral population dynamics can also be estimated based on modern Japanese molecular sequences(Peng and Zhang 2011). By examining the profile of different mitochondrial DNA haplogroups, one finds different
profiles. Haplogroups N9b and M7a show the progressive
population growth shortly after the start of Jōmon to thepresent (Fig. 3d). This could be attributed to somesuccessful adaptive subsistence strategies well suited tochanging Jōmon environments. Around 10–15% of themitochondrial DNA pool in the current Japanese population originated from that of the Jōmon people (Fig. 3d).
In contract to the Jōmon’s haplogroups, the remaining
accounts for 90–85% of modern Japanese. Most of them
are descendant from the immigrants from Far East Asia
after 2.9 cal. kyr BP, who had stayed considerably in
China. Time series of the relative population size of total
Japanese people (solid line) by Saito (2017) showed abroad minimum around 4.0 cal. kyr BP, which is consistent with those of haplogroups D4, B4, B5, and F,
accounting more than half of modern Japanese (Pengand Zhang 2011) (Fig. 3d). Recently, Kajita et al. (2018)
reported that extraordinarily severe abrupt cold episodes(i.e., 3–4 °C drop in SST) occurred frequently in the
Yangtze delta region around 4.4–3.8 cal. kyr BP (Fig. 3e).
The cold climatic event started about 0.2 kyr earlier thanat the Sannai-Maruyama site, northern Japan. Hundredsof sites of Neolithic cultures have been found in the
Yangtze delta region in 7.5–4.2 cal. kyr BP (Stanley et al.
1999; Chen et al. 2005; Zhang et al. 2005; Itzstein-Daveyet al. 2007a, b). Especially, the Songze (5.9–5.2 cal. kyrBP) was followed by the Liangzhu (5.2–4.2 cal. kyr BP),which showed well technological and social development. Artifacts from the Liangzhu occupation haveprovided evidence of advanced rice cultivation. It is wellknown that the Liangzhu terminated mysteriously
around 4.2 cal. kyr BP. Currently, the reason behind thetime lag by 0.2 kyr between the first sudden drops of
SST and the disappearance of the culture remains unclear. However, one possibility is that some of people
might overcome a lot of obstacles by the first deteriorated climate but could be overwhelmed by extreme cold
environments several times. In the Bronze Age, Maqiao
culture (3.9–3.2 cal. kyr BP) appeared after a period of
about 300 years without a trace of human settlement

Page 14 of 18(the so-called cultural interruption). Archeological evidence showed that the number of Neolithic cultural sites
and population dramatically decreased during this period(Chen et al. 2005). In addition, the Maqiao culture might
have originated from different groups from the Liangzhu
people because of material less sophisticated than thoseof the Liangzhu (Stanley et al. 1999). The other Neolithic
settlements located around the upper reaches of the
Yangtze River were also abandoned (Yasuda et al. 2004).
Anyway, probably, these cold episodes could bring sufficiently severe damage to rice cultivation, constituting aplausible explanation for the demise of the Yangtze
Neolithic civilization by damaging population aroundthe area. Afterward, the people living along the coast of
East China Sea came to Japanese islands with paddy ricecultivation technology because Japanese paddy rice originated from China based upon its DNA analysis (Sakitani
2008; Sato 2009). On the other hand, people around theSannnai-Maruyama site managed to survive across 4.2 ka
event in spite of extraordinary climate change. The
contrast of these ancestral population dynamics between
different groups in response to different climatic events
suggests that the mitochondrial DNA haplogroups could
be a good archive for paleoclimate and/or paleoenvironments. To better understand these processes, further
investigation is required to reconstruct other climateparameters such as rainfall, aridity, and cloudiness tocontrol food supply and human society quantitatively
and to analyze mitochondrial DNA of Jōmon, Yayoi, andancient Far East people.

Conclusions
The change in climate known as the 4.2 ka event hasreceived much attention and has been cited as a plausible
explanation for the collapse of major ancient civilizations/societies in Egypt, the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, China,
and Japan. The climatic/environmental fluctuation between Bond events 4 and 3 around the Sannai-Maruyamasite (5.9–4.2 cal. kyr BP), the largest and well-studied midHolocene (mid-Jōmon) archeological site, was investigated.
The contrast in response to different climatic events suggests that the mitochondrial DNA haplogroups could be agood archive for paleoclimate and/or paleoenvironments:
1) By using data for the stable isotopic compositionsof benthic foraminifera and the relative abundanceof coccoliths, as well as by re-evaluation of
Ostracoda and pollen data and alkenone
accumulation rate, overall, it is suggested that the
Jōmon people living at the Sannai-Maruyama sitewould generally have enjoyed a warmer climate that
led to improved living conditions between Bond
events 4 and 3.

Kawahata Progress in Earth and Planetary Science(2019) 6:63

2) Hansaibai (selective preservation or growth) of
Castanea could have supported high population
density, resulting in large community at the SannaiMaruyama site. Cooling episode at 4.2 cal. kyr BP
could have caused the decline of chestnut
hansaibai, leading to the collapse of the site.
3) A broad northward shift of the westerly jet, in
association with strengthened East Asian Summer
Monsoon, could have fostered a relatively warm
climate at 6.0–4.2 cal. kyr BP, when the SannaiMaruyama site flourished.
4) Recent archeological results suggested no large
decline of the population but, instead, a dispersal to
the surrounding area at 4.2 cal. kyr BP. It isconsistent with ancestral population dynamics forthe descendent from Jōmon people based onmodern Japanese molecular sequences. In contrast,
the immigrants from Far East Asia to the JapaneseArchipelago with paddy rice cultivation technology
after 2.9 cal. kyr BP experienced severe cold eventsin eastern China around 4.2 ka event, which wereconfirmed by ancestral population dynamics. The
contrast in response to different climatic events
suggests that the mitochondrial DNA haplogroups
could be a good archive for paleoclimate and/or
paleoenvironments.
Abbreviations
AT: Atmospheric temperature; EASM: East Asian Summer Monsoon;
INTIMATE: Integration of ice-core, marine and terrestrial records; Vienna
Standard Mean Ocean Water; SST: Sea surface temperatures; TWC: Tsugaru
Warm Current; V-PDB: Vienna Standard Pee Dee Belemnite

Acknowledgements
We thank a chief editor (Prof. J. Matsumoto) and two anonymous reviewers
for their helpful and valuable suggestions on improving our manuscript. We
are grateful to H. Yamamoto, K. Ohkushi (Kobe University), Dr. S. Sakata(National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Dr.
K. Minoshima, (AIST), and Ms. N. Hokanishi (University of Tokyo) for the
analysis of alkenones and stable isotopes of foraminifera. Mr. H. Kajita(University of Tokyo) who drew some figures and Miss A. Maeda (Universityof Tokyo) who calculated diversity are also acknowledged. We gratefully
acknowledged Dr. J. Habu (University of California) on inviting us to her
innovative workshops operated under RIHN program of “Long-term
Sustainability through Place-Based, Small-Scale Economies: Approaches fromHistorical Ecology” and to have fruitful discussion. This research was partly
supported by Grants-in-Aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to H.K. (nos. 1934014622224009 and 15H02139).

Authors’ contributions
HK proposed and designed the study. He analyzed the samples and data byhimself. The author read and approved the final manuscript.

Authors’ information
No special information for HK.

Funding
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant numbers
1934014622224009 and 15H02139.

Page 15 of 18

Availability of data and materials
Data and materials were collected by HK under his scientific funds. But if
some would like to share HK’s samples, please contact the author for data
requests.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
There is no part on human participants, human data, or human tissue in thismanuscript. Also, this manuscript does not report on or involve the use of
any animal or human data or tissue.
Consent for publication
There is no other individual person’s data in any form (including individual
details, images, or videos). This manuscript does not contain any individual
personal data.
Competing interests
The author declares that he has no competing interests.
Received: 3 September 2018 Accepted: 24 September 2019

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