Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-k7p5g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T06:21:41.699Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Prehistoric Maritime Culture of the Okhotsk Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Harumi Befu  and
Chester S. Chard
Harumi Befu
Affiliation:
University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
Chester S. Chard
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper analyzes the culture history of the little-known Okhotsk culture and makes suggestions about its relationships with neighboring cultures. The Okhotsk culture is important in understanding the cultural history of the northern Pacific because it shows no affinities with the Ainu and Japanese cultures and has an economy remarkably like that of the more distant Aleut and Eskimo. The Okhotsk culture appears to have historical relationships with cultures in Siberia and Manchuria. The maritime hunting economy of this culture was probably derived from the Eskimo via Bering Sea and the Siberian coast. Other cultural elements, the most noticeable being ceramics, were of mainland origin and served as an influential force in forming Okhotsk culture. Once established on Sakhalin, this culture moved southward along the northeastern coast of Hokkaido, where a secondary and later cultural center developed. Migrations up the Kuriles occurred shortly thereafter. This culture probably flourished for at least a thousand years, beginning in Sakhalin several centuries before Christ and persisting until sometime after A.D. 1000 and possibly until the 17th century in the Kuriles. Several unsolved problems concerning the Okhotsk culture are presented.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , July 1964 , pp. 1 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1964

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baba, Osamu 1934 Kita Chishima Shumushu-to ni okeru kokogakuteki chosa hokoku (Report on the Archaeological Investigation of Shumushu Island in the northern Kuriles). Jinruigaku Zasshi, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 39–63. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Baba, Osamu 1937 Chishima gunto shutsudo no shuryo-gu oyobi gyogu (Hunting and Fishing Implements from the Kurile Islands). Minzokugaku Kenkyu, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 295–337. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Baba, Osamu 1939 Kokogaku-jo yori mitaru kita Chishima (The Northern Kuriles from the Viewpoint of Archaeology). Jinruigaku Senshigaku Koza, Vol. 10. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Baba, Osamu 1940 Karafuto no kokogaku-teki gaikan (Archaeological Outline of Southern Sakhalin). Jinruigaku Senshigaku Koza, Vol. 17. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Baba, Osamu 1943 Chishima ni okeru Aleut-zoku (The Aleuts in the Kuriles). Minzokugaku Kenkyu, Vol. 9, pp. 773–94. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Baba, Osamu and Oka, Masao 1938 Kita Chishima Shumushuto oyobi Karafuto Taraika chiho ni okeru kokogaku-teki chosa yoho (Archaeological Investigation of Shumushu, Kurile Islands, and Taraika, Sakhalin). Minzokugaku Kenkyu, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 117–80. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Chard, Chester S. 1961 Kamchadal Culture and Its Relationships in the Old and New Worlds. Archives of Archaeology, No. 15. Madison.Google Scholar
Chard, Chester S. 1962 Time Depth and Culture Process in Maritime Northeast Asia. Asian Perspectives, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 213–16. Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Chard, Chester S. and Merbs, Barbara P. 1964 The Alaskan Situla Ware: An East Asian Transplant to the New World? Proceedings, 35th International Congress of Americanists, Mexico, 1962 (in press).Google Scholar
Chubarova, R. V. 1957 K Istorii Drevneishego Naseleniia Sakhalina (Contribution to the History of the Ancient Population of Sakhalin). Sovetskaia Etnografiia, 1957, No. 4, pp. 60-75. Moscow.Google Scholar
Chubarova, R. V. 1958 Raboty Sakhalinskogo Otriada Dal'nevostochnoi Ekspeditsii v 1955 g. (Field Work of the Sakhalin Section of the Far Eastern Expedition in 1955). Krartkie Soobshcheniia Instituta Istorii Material'noi Kul'tury, Vyp. 71, pp. 119-28. Moscow.Google Scholar
Hayashi, Kinoo 1953 Nihon hokuchi no kobunka to shuzoku (Ancient Cultures and Peoples of Northern Japan). In Roshiyajin Nihon enho-ki, edited by Hayashi, Kingo, pp. 159–349. Naigaisha, Tokyo.Google Scholar
Heizer, Robert F. 1956 Archaeology of the Uyak Site, Kodiak Island, Alaska. Anthropological Records oj the University of California, Vol. 17, No. 1. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Ino, Tentaro 1937 Karafuto Sakaehama-cho Kankiji ura iseki no sekifu (Stone Axes from the Site at the Kankiji Temple in Sakaehama, Sakhalin). Senshi Kokogaku, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 85–90. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Ito, Nobuo 1937 Karafuto shutsudo no jomon doki (Cord-marked Pottery from Sakhalin). Bunka, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 341–50. Sendai.Google Scholar
Ito, Nobuo 1938 Kitami shutsudo no warabite no katana ni tsuite (Ancient Swords Excavated at Kitami, Hokkaido). Kokogaku Zasshi, Vol. 28, No. 7, pp. 416–68. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Ito, Shoichi 1948 Moyoro Kaizuka-jin to Ainu tono konketsu ni tsuite (On the Admixture of the Moyoro Man and the Ainu). Shinrinsho, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 1-6.Google Scholar
Jochelson, Waldemar 1925 Archaeological Investigations in the Aleutian Islands. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 367. Washington.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitagamae, Yasuo and Sumi, Hiroshi 1953 Hokkaido Nemuro Hanto Tosamporo Ohotsukushiki iseki chosa hokok (A Report on the Okhotsk Type at Tosamporo in Nemuro, Hokkaido). Jodai Bunka, Vol. 24, pp. 34–48. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Kiyono, Kenji 1925 Nihon genjin no kenkyu (Study of the Proto-Japanese). Oka Shoin, Tokyo.Google Scholar
Kiyono, Kenji 1927-1928 Hokkaido tohoku-bu ni okeru jinruigakuteki tankyu kiko (Journal of an Anthropological Expedition in Northeastern Hokkaido). Minzoku, Vol. 2, No. 6, pp. 1077-84; Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 107-15, No. 2, pp. 313-19, No. 3, pp. 507-13. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Kiyono, Kenji 1944 Taiheiyo ni okeru minzoku bunka no koryu (Migration and Diffusion in the Pacific). Sogensha, Tokyo.Google Scholar
Kodama, Sakuzaemon 1947 Moyoro kaizuka no minzoku ni tsuite (On the Population of the Moyoro Shell Mound). Shinrinsho, Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 107.Google Scholar
Kodama, Sakuzaemon 1948 Moyoro kaizuka (Moyoro Shell Mound). Hokkaido Genshi Bunka Kenkyukai Shuppan-bu, Sapporo.Google Scholar
Kodama, Sakuzaemon 1950 Moyoro kaizukajin no maiso ni tsuite (Concerning the Burial of the People of Moyoro Kitchen Midden). Kokogaku Zasshi, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 232-4. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Kodama, Sakuzaemon and Oba, Toshio 1958 Raburetto (Labret) ni tsuite (Labret). Hoppo Bunka Kenkyu Hokoku, Vol. 13, pp. 271–93. Sapporo.Google Scholar
Komai, Kazuchika 1951 Hokkaido Abashiri-shi Moyoro Kaizuka (The Moyoro Shell Mound, Abashiri City, Hokkaido). Archaeologia Japonica, Vol. 1 (1948), pp. 35–6. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Kondo, Tadashi 1955 Moyoro kaizuka no kairui (Shells of the Moyoro Shell Mound). Senshi Jidai, Vol. 2, pp. 7–9. Sapporo.Google Scholar
Kondo, Tadashi 1956 Moyoro kaizuka no gyorui to yoriito-mon doki narabini mumon doki (Fish of the Moyoro Shell Mound, Twined Cord Design Pottery and Underrated Pottery). Senshi Jidai, Vol. 4, pp. 36–40. Sapporo.Google Scholar
Kozyreva, R. V. 1960 Drevneishee Proshloe Sakhalina (The Ancient Past of Sakhalin). Iuzhno-Sakhalinsk.Google Scholar
Laguna, Frederica de 1946 The Importance of the Eskimo in Northeastern Archaeology. In “Man in Northeastern North America,” edited by Johnson, Frederick, Papers of the Robert S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology, Vol. 3, pp. 106–42. Andover.Google Scholar
Laguna, Frederica de 1956 Chugach Prehistory: The Archaeology of Prince William Sound, Alaska. University of Washington Press, Seattle.Google Scholar
Nakamura, Itsuki 1954 Ohotsuku bunka no kenkyu (A Study of the Okhotsk Culture). B. A. dissertation, Meiji University.Google Scholar
Naora, Nobuo 1938 Hoppo bunka-ken no jukotsu (On the Animal Bones in the Arctic Cultural Circle). Minzokugaku Kenkyu, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 599–622. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Naora, Nobuo 1957 Ohotsuku-kai engan iseki hakkutsu no kaken kagakukotsu (On the Mandibles of Domestic Dog Discovered on the Coast of the Okhotsk Sea). Kodai, Nos. 25-26, pp. 1-16. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Natori, Takemitsu 1936 Kita Nihon ni okeru dobutsu isho ibutsu to sono bumpu (Artifacts with Animal Designs and Their Distribution in Northern Japan). Hokudai Hakubutsukan Hokoko. Sapporo.Google Scholar
Natori, Takemitsu 1939 Hokkaido no doki (Pottery of Hokkaido). Jinruigaku Senshigaku Koza, Vol. 10. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Natori, Takemitsu 1948 Moyoro iseki to kokogaku (The Moyoro Site and Archaeology). Kodansha, Sapporo.Google Scholar
Oba, Iwao 1947 Warabite katana ni tsuite (On the Fern-handled Sword). Kokogaku Zasshi, Vol. 34, No. 10, pp. 556–75. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Oba, Toshio 1950 Moyoro kaizuka shutsudo no kokkakki zakko (Concerning Bone and Horn Objects Found in the Moyoro Kitchen Midden). Kokogaku Zasshi, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 235–9. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Oba, Toshio 1955a Moyoro kaizuka shutsudo no kokkakki (On the Bone Implements from the Moyoro Shell Mound in Abashiri). Hoppo Bunka Kenkyu Hokoku, Vol. 10, pp. 173–249. Sapporo.Google Scholar
Oba, Toshio 1955b Ohotsuku no futatsu no bunka-ken (The Discovery of Two Cultural Spheres in the Okhotsk Bay Region). Sekki Jidai, Vol. 2, pp. 46–54.Google Scholar
Oba, Toshio 1956 Moyoro kaizuka shutsudo no Ohotsuku-shiki doki (On Okhotsk Type Pottery from the Moyoro Shell Mound in Abashiri). Hoppo Bunka Kenkyu Hokoku, Vol. 11, pp. 187–256. Sapporo.Google Scholar
Oba, Toshio 1957 Moyoro kaizuka shutsudo no sekki (On the Stone Implements from the Moyoro Shell Mound in Abashiri). Hoppo Bunka Kenkyu Hokoku, Vol. 12, pp. 167–221. Sapporo.Google Scholar
Oba, Toshio and Ishikawa, Toru 1961 Hamamasu iseki (The Hamamasu Site). Hamamasu Village Office, Board of Education and Committee on Cultural Treasures, Hamamasu.Google Scholar
Okawa, Kiyoshi 1954 Hoppo bunka-ken shutsudo no fujinzo (Consideration of the Female Figure from Rebun Island, Hokkaido). Kodai, Nos. 1-2, pp. 38–41. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Okladnikov, A. P. 1959 Dalekoe Proshloe Primor'ia (The Distant Past of the Maritime Territory). Vladivostok.Google Scholar
Okladnikov, A. P. 1963 Drevnee Poselenie na Poluostrove Peschanom u Vladivostoka (An Ancient Settlement on Peschanyi Peninsula near Vladivostok). Materialy i hsledovaniia po Arkheologii SSSR, No. 112. Moscow and Leningrad.Google Scholar
Sato, Tatsuo 1952 Sento Rorensu-to shutsudo no mori ni tsuite (Notes on the Harpoons Found on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea). Kodaigaku, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 338–48. Osaka.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Hisashi 1959 Nihon ni okeru keishitsu jinruigaku no genjo (Present Status of Physical Anthropology in Japan). In “Nihon no minzoku bunka: Nihon no jinruigaku-teki kenkyu” (Peoples and Cultures of Japan: Anthropological Study of Japan), edited by Iwamura, Shinobu. Kodansha, Tokyo.Google Scholar
T. O., 1937 Hogei no zu chokoku no kokki (Bone Implements with Whaling Design). Mineruva, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 66. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Tsuboi, Siiogoro 1901 Hokkaido Rishiri kaizuka hakken no kaijuga-sei no ningyo (Figurine Made of Sea Mammal Ivory Found at Rishiri Shell Mound, Hokkaido). Tokyo Hnruigakukai Zasshi, Vol. 16, No. 178, pp. 125–8. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Yawata, Ichiro 1943 Kossei hariire (Bone Needle Case). Kodai Bunka, Vol. 14, No. 8, pp. 251–9. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Yonemura, Kiyoe 1935 Hokkaido Abashiri-cho Moyoro kaizuka-chu no jinkotsu maiso ni tsuite (Notes on Burials Found in the Shell Mound of Moyoro, Hokkaido). Jinruigaku Zasshi, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 47–56. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Yonemura, Kiyoe 1950 Moyoro kaizuka shiryo shu (The Moyoro Shell Mound). Abashiri Municipal Museum, Abashiri.Google Scholar