Based on examinations of archaeofaunal remains from 153 components from 122 sites in Hokkaido, Northern Japan, this study highlights that northern fur seals were the most important game for sea mammal hunting from the early Early Jomon (7000 calBP) and proposes a hypothesis that offshore hunting technology for hunting adult fur seals was established prior to the late Early Jomon ( 5800calBP). This study also reveals that the importance of fishing for subsistence rapidly increased during the very end of the Final Jomon (2600 calBP) and the Early Epi-Jomon (2400 calBP-1800 calBP). Fishing focusing on bastard halibut and swordfish was actively conducted for status-building by Early Epi-Jomon fishers in some areas. Mortuary analyses indicate that ritual leaders were not necessarily capable fishers and/or hunters in the Jomon communities. However, during the Early Epi-Jomon, only successful fishers and/or hunters had the power to control rituals and the long-distance trade.

The Circumpolar North is generally recognized as a challenging environment to inhabit and yet, we know relatively little about how people managed their welfare in these places. Here, we add to the understanding of maritime hunter-gatherers in the subarctic North Pacific through a comparative approach that synthesizes biogeographic and archaeological data from the Kuril Islands. We conclude that our faunal, ceramic and lithic evidence support biogeographical expectations as assemblages from low biodiversity and insular regions show limited diet breadth, more locally produced pottery and a conservation of lithic resources. However, we highlight that these ecological factors did not strictly determine the occupation history of the archipelago as radiocarbon data suggests all regions experienced similar demographic fluctuations regardless of their biogeography. These results imply additional pressures influenced the strategic use and settlement of the Kuril Islands and the need for increased chronological resolution to disentangle these complex historical factors. IntroductionMaritime hunter-gatherers can be broadly defined as those groups whose subsistence relies primarily on wild resources extracted from the sea. However, given that many northern regions have had only intermittent human presence (Hoffecker 2005; Friesen and Mason 2016) and have been less intensively studied, the archaeological record of Arctic and sub-Arctic maritime hunter-gatherers is often scant. This is unfortunate as the archaeology of northern foragers present valuable opportunities to study long-term interactions between humans and their environments. This is especially true given the challenging climates, inherent instability of highlatitude ecosystems and their reliance on local resources for survival (Damm et al. 2019). Here, our approach is to compare archaeological and radiocarbon evidence from maritime hunter-gatherers that inhabited a subarctic landscape: the Kuril Islands, an archipelago that stretches from the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido to the southern tip of the Kamchatka peninsula (see Fig 1). We start from the well-established premise that islands make good areas for studying historical hunter-gatherer relationships to ecological variability (Keegan

introductionEnd scrapers are one of the essential artifacts in human prehistory studied by archaeologists not only in Japan, but elsewhere in the world. Because these artifacts are highly conducive to stylistic embellishments, they provide significant clues for chronological investigation and study of the relationships between sites. The highly curated aspects of end scrapers as a tool also offer valuable information about reduction sequences and functional systems of stone tools (Barnes 1932;Shott 1995;Siegel 1984). Furthermore, this tool is often associated with fur/hide resource processing, clothing which is indispensable for humans, especially in mid-and high-latitude zones. The function-specific character of end scrapers makes it easier for us to e xamine issues related to the history of technology, the division of labor, gender, social stratification and the symbolism of power (Frink and Weedman 2005;Hayden 1979 Hayden , 1990 Hayden , 1993Semenov 1964).in studies of the Palaeolithic in the Japanese islands, end scrapers have played an important role not only in chronology, but also in discussions identifying human groups and their adaptation to cold climates. Arguments in the past concerning cultural attributions and adaptive strategies were not necessarily backed up by sufficient evidence on the use and functions of end scrapers. However, in the last decade, lithic use-wear analysis has demonstrated that the Palaeolithic end scraper was one of the principal tools for hide-working (Kanomata 2003(Kanomata , 2004(Kanomata , 2008Takase 2003 Takase , 2008b Tsutsumi 1997a Tsutsumi , 1997b Tsutsumi , 1999 Tsutsumi , 2000.Nevertheless, very few attempts have been made to investigate in detail the specific mechanics of how end scrapers were used. For example, little is known about the direction of tool movement and the hafting method, although these provide basic information for discussing the technology of hide processing and the tool use strategies of hide-workers. The objective of this article is to demonstrate a method for estimating the direction of tool movement of end scrapers, focusing specifically on the relationship between the use angle and the edge angle (Fig. 1).

Using 14 proxy human population time series from around the North Pacific (Alaska, Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands), we evaluate the possibility that the North Pacific climate and marine ecosystem includes a millennial-scale regime shift cycle affecting subsistence and migration. We develop both visual and statistical methods for addressing questions about relative population growth and movement in the past. We introduce and explore the use of a Time Iterative Moran I (TIMI) spatial autocorrelation method to compare time series trends quantitatively – a method that could prove useful in other paleoecological analyses. Results reveal considerable population dynamism around the North Pacific in the last 5000 years and strengthen a previously reported inverse correlation between Northeast and Northwest Pacific proxy population indices. Visual and TIMI analyses suggest multiple, overlapping explanations for the variability, including the potential that oscillating ecological regime shifts affect the North Pacific basin. These results provide an opening for coordinated research to unpack the interrelated social, cultural and environmental dynamics around the subarctic and arctic North Pacific at different spatial and temporal scales by international teams of archaeologists, historians, paleoecologists, paleoceanographers, paleoclimatologists, modelers and data management specialists.

This study purposed to reveal animal use in southern Kamchatka by examining the largest archaeofaunal collections recovered by Tamara M. Dikova and Nikolai N. Dikov. Radiocarbon dates of charcoal and caribou antler demonstrated that materials for this study were dated during the past 1,600 years, including three cultural periods: Nalychevo Culture (the 15-19th centuries AD), Tar'ya Culture (the mid-first millennium AD), and the intermediate period between them (the early second millennium AD). The taxonomical distribution suggested the significance of true seals and caribou as hunting games. Various roles of sites around Cape Lopatka for seasonal hunting, trade, and manufacturing bone tools were inferred based on bone composition. Caribou antlers, drift whale carcasses, and long bird bones were important materials for making bone tools. The first example of wolf eel and Steller's sea cow remains associated with archaeological sites on the Siberian side of the North Pacific were also reported.