Chronology of the earliest pottery in East Asia: progress and pitfalls.

Chronology of the earliest pottery in East Asia: progress and pitfalls. Introduction The origin of pottery manufacture is one of the most importantsubjects in Old World prehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to . Since the mid-1960s, the Jomon ofJapan was considered as the archaeological complex with the earliestpottery in the world dated to the Final Pleistocene, c. 12 70012 200radiocarbon years ago (hereafter BP) (e.g. Morlan 1967). From the 1970sto the 1990s, the increased pace of archaeological and chronologicalstudies in East Asia East AsiaA region of Asia coextensive with the Far East.East Asian adj. & n. has brought to light new evidence of the FinalPleistocene pottery in other regions neighbouring Japan, such as Chinaand the Russian Far East. In East Asia, the presence of pottery is veryoften associated with the Neolithic stage in prehistory (e.g. Barnes1999: 17) although in the earliest sites important indicators of theNeolithic in its classical definition, agriculture and sedentism, aremissing. Thus, the meaning of the term 'Neolithic' in EastAsia is different from that in Europe and the Near East. The main aim of this paper is to present an updated review of thechronological aspects of pottery origins in East Asia, with a criticalevaluation of the latest summaries. The 'chronometric hygiene'approach (sensu Spriggs 1989) is applied to the archaeological complexeswith the earliest pottery in East Asia, meaning that the radiocarbondates are critically assessed and unreliable ones are rejected. Materials and Methods Pottery in this review is defined as 'clay that has beenfashioned into a desired shape and then dried to reduce its watercontent before being fired or baked to fix its form' (Darvill 2002:337-8). For our purpose, those sites with radiocarbon (hereafter 14C)dates directly associated with the earliest pottery were chosen. Thesites are located in China, the Japanese islands, the Russian Far East,and Korea (Figure 1). All the sites meet the criteria for establishingthe presence of pottery in archaeological contexts (Vandiver 1999). Inorder to evaluate the reliability of the [sup.14]C dates associated withpottery, critical assessment of different chronological aspects wereaddressed. These included the materials dated, the methods for direct[sup.14]C dating of pottery, the degree of association between [sup.14]Cdates and potsherds from particular cultural layers, and thecorrespondence of the earliest pottery [sup.14]C dates with generalcultural chronologies. Dates that do not fulfil the 'chronometrichygiene' requirements, such as consistency in stratigraphy stratigraphy,branch of geology specifically concerned with the arrangement of layered rocks (see stratification). Stratigraphy is based on the law of superposition, which states that in a normal sequence of rock layers the youngest is on top and the oldest on the , secureassociation of [sup.14]C-dated material and pottery, adequate reportingof original data, and correspondence to the general chronologicaloutline of prehistoric cultural complexes, were rejected afterexplaining why they were not considered to be reliable. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] In this paper, comprehensive summaries with lists of [sup.14]Cdates were used (Wu & Zhao 2003; Keally et al. 2003; Kuzmin &Shewkomud 2003). Figure 2 shows the calibrated ages of the most reliableearliest [sup.14]C values associated with pottery. Chinese dates,originally reported with 5730 yrs [sup.14]C half-life, werere-calculated for the 'Libby value' of 5568 yrs, to becompatible with other dates produced elsewhere. The CALIB rev. 4.4.2software was used for date calibration. [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] For the [sup.14]C data corpus used in this review, the materialsdated include wood, charcoal, food residues (adhesions), human andanimal bones, freshwater shells, and potsherds. Wood, charcoal, bone,shell, and humic acid Noun 1. humic acid - a dark brown humic substance that is soluble in water only at pH values greater than 2; "the half-life of humic acid is measured in centuries"humic substance - an organic residue of decaying organic matter pretreatment pretreatment,n the protocols required before beginning therapy, usually of a diagnostic nature; before treatment.pretreatment estimate,n See predetermination. procedures are quite standardised now(cf. Taylor 1987:44-61). For the direct dating of food residues andpottery, several pretreatment protocols were used. For the extraction ofcarbon from the charred food remains attached to the potsherds, Nakamuraet al. (2001) used acid-alkali-acid pretreatment, with a weakerconcentration of alkaline solution to prevent the loss of carbon Direct dating of pottery is a more difficult task (see review inBonsall et al. 2002). For plant-fibre-tempered pottery from the RussianFar East and the Kosan-ni site in Korea, O'Malley et al. (1999)used low temperature combustion with oxygen. For the Kosan-ni pottery,the method of alkali extraction of organics was also used (Bae & Kim2003). Another method for carbon extraction, using methyl benzene andalcohol to separate the lipids, which represent the soluble portion ofthe sherds, from the insoluble part, was applied by Zhao and Wu (2000)for non-organic-tempered pottery excavated in southern China. The earliest pottery in East Asia: a review of [sup.14]C dates China The first Final Pleistocene [sup.14]C dates associated with potteryin China became available in the 1980s (e.g. An 1989). In the 1990s, thenumber of dates increased substantially (MacNeish & Libby 1995; Zhao& Wu 2000), and there are now at least five sites dated to earlierthan c. 10000 BP: Miaoyan and Bailiandong in Guangxi Province, Yuchanyanin Hunan Province, Xianrendong in Jiangxi Province, and Nanzhuangtou inthe Beijing metropolitan area (Figure 1). Three other sites,Diaotonghuan (Wu & Zhao 2003), Liyuzui and Hutouliang (Yasuda 2002),in my opinion have problems with dating and stratigraphic stra��tig��ra��phy?n.The study of rock strata, especially the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rocks.strat context, andshould not be accepted as pre-10000 BP Neolithic complexes withoutadditional studies (see below). The recent set of [sup.14]C dates run on charcoal for the earliestpottery-containing sites in southern China allows us to estimate the ageof pottery as 13 680 [+ or -] 270 BP (BA95058) for the Yuchanyan siteand 13 310 [+ or -] 270 BP (BA92034-1) for the Miaoyan site (layer 4M)(dates correspond to 17320-14 710 cal BP) (Figure 2). A [sup.14]C dateof 18 140 [+ or -] 320 BP (BA92036-1) from pre-pottery layer 5L at theMiaoyan site provides good stratigraphic control of the date for potterylayer 4M. At the Miaoyan and Yuchanyan sites, direct dating of potterywas applied (Zhao & Wu 2000). The [sup.14]C values on insolubleresidues are 14 390 [+ or -] 230 BP (BA95057b) for Yuchanyan, and 15 220[+ or -] 260 BP (BA94137b) for Miaoyan (layer 5). However, pottery residue dates should be treated as maximal ageestimates. Because no organic matter was added deliberately by humansduring the manufacture of pottery at both Miaoyan and Yuchanyan (Zhang2002a, 2002b: 34), the age of the pottery itself does not necessarilycorrespond to the timing of its production, and the charcoal [sup.14]Cdates, c. 13 700-13 300 BP, are in my opinion the most reliable agedeterminations. The Xianrendong cave is among the most thoroughly dated sites insouthern China (MacNeish & Libby 1995; MacNeish et al. 1998; Wu& Zhao 2003). The charcoal [sup.14]C date from the earliestpottery-containing component of this site, zone 3Clb, is 12 430 [+ or -]80 BP (UCR-3561). The overlying overlyingsuffocation of piglets by the sow. The piglets may be weak from illness or malnutrition, the sow may be clumsy or ill, the pen may be inadequate in size or poorly designed so that piglets cannot escape. zone 3C1 a has a charcoal date of 12 170[+ or -] 140 BP (BA95145), indicating good stratigraphic control.Furthermore, two older bone [sup.14]C values were obtained recently forthis site in presumed association with pottery: zone 3C1b, 15 960 [+ or-] 190 BP (BA00009) and zone 2B, 15 830 [+ or -] 160 BP (BA00015). However, the very complicated stratigraphic situation atXianrendong and inversions in the [sup.14]C age do not allow us toaccept these earlier dates at face value. For example, from zone 3B1,lying stratigraphically above zone 3Clb, there is a [sup.14]C date of 14185 [+ or -] 290 BP (BA93181) on unspecified material. Furthermore, a[sup.14]C value of 17420 [+ or -] 130 BP (AA-15008) was obtained oncharcoal from zone 3Clb. The date of 15 180 [+ or -] 90 BP (URC-3300)for human bone from zone 3C2 is younger than another date from zone3Cla, 16 010 [+ or -] 60 BP (UCR-3562) on unspecified material, althoughzone 3C2 is stratigraphically below zone 3C1a. These examplesdemonstrate the disturbed nature of the Xianrendong cultural sequencedue to re-deposition of archaeological materials by human activity inthe cave throughout its long-term occupation, since at least c.20000-17000 BP (MacNeish & Libby 1995: 87). Perhaps this is whyMacNeish et al. (1998: 39) finally accepted the age of the earliestpottery as c. 13 500-11 800 BP. At the Diaotonghuan (or Wang Dong Wang Dong (Chinese:王栋) is a Chinese football player who currently plays for Changchun Yatai. He was born in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. He recently scored two of China's five goals in a 5-1 victory over Malaysia. He is also famously known for having two penises. in MacNeish et al. 1998) cavesite in Jiangxi Province close to the Xianrendong site, a [sup.14]C dateof 14 650 [+ or -] 210 BP (BA00014) was recently determined on bonematerial from zone D (Wu & Zhao 2003). Higham (2002: 338-9) issceptical about such an early age of Diaotonghuan zones D and E, andestimates the age at c. 10 000-8000 BP. Zhao (1998) accepts a'conservative date' of c. 9000-10 000 BP for zone E, and c.8000 BP for zone D. Zhang (2002a: 190) correlates zones D1 and D2 withzones 3B1 and 3B2 of Xianrendong, dated to c. 11 000 BP (MacNeish et al.1998). More dates, especially on charcoal, are necessary to securecontrol of the Diaotonghuan stratigraphic sequence. Until then, thesingle value of c. 14 700 BP can be treated only as provisional. Two sites with quite early [sup.14]C dates, presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. associatedwith pottery, were recently reported by Yasuda (2002). Two freshwatermollusc molluscmembers of the phylum Mollusca, which comprises about 50,000 species. Includes snails, slugs and the aquatic molluscs��oysters, mussels, clams, cockles, arkshells, scallop, abalone, cuttlefish, squid. shell dates of 18 555 [+ or -] 300 BP (PV0379-1) and 21 025[+ or-] 450 BP (PV0379-2) from the Liyuzui shellmidden site in GuangxiProvince (corresponding to 'Libby' half-life dates of 18 030[+ or -] 300 BP and 20 430 [+ or -] 450 BP, respectively), wereoriginally received in the early 1980s (Radiocarbon Dates 1991) and soonrejected by Chinese scholars (cf. An 1991 : 198-9; see also Zhang 2002b:29). Zhao (1998) assumes that the age of the Neolithic component at thissite is no older than c. 11 000 BE According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. the original source,dates of c. 18 000-20 400 BP at the Liyuzui site were obtained frombelow the cultural layer (Radiocarbon Dates 1991: 217). Thesignificantly younger [sup.14]C date determined from human bone, 11 450[+ or -] 150 BP (PV-0402) (Radiocarbon Dates 1991), is associated withpottery at this site (Zhang 2000). Thus, Yasuda's attempt to'revive' these very old values without critical evaluationcontradicts the 'chronometric hygiene', and does not allowtheir incorporation into our dataset. Finally, Yasuda (2002: 123, Fig.6) mistakenly presents a photograph of the Bailiandong sitecross-section instead of one showing Liyuzui, which might confusereaders because the dates shown in the figure are not those from Liyuzuibut from Bailiandong. A new [sup.14]C date from the Hutouliang site in Hebei Province Noun 1. Hebei province - a populous province in northeastern ChinaHebei, Hopeh, HopeiCathay, China, Communist China, mainland China, People's Republic of China, PRC, Red China - a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most ofnorthern China, 13 080 [+ or -] 200 BP (GrA-10460) (Yasuda 2002: 127),produced on unidentified material and without details of the associationof date and pottery, should not be accepted until more information isprovided. No details about the association of pottery and this [sup.14]Cdate have been given so far (Guo & Li 2002). Previously, the date ofc. 10 700 BP at this site was associated with the Final Palaeolithiccomplex without any pottery (Radiocarbon Dates 1991). In my opinion, theearliest pottery-associated [sup.14]C date from northern China is 10210[+ or -] 110 BP (BK87075) (12600-11 300 cal BP) from the Nanzhuangtousite (Figure 2). Japan Since the 1960s, when the number of [sup.14]C-dated prehistoricsites was quite small (e.g. Morlan 1967), significant progress in[sup.14]C dating of the earliest pottery sites, corresponding to theIncipient Jomon phase, has been made. There are currently at least 80known Incipient Jomon sites in Japan (Jomon Jidai Sosoki Shiryoshu1996), and ten of them have [sup.14]C dates older than c. 11 000 BP(Figure 1) (see details in Keally et al. 2003, 2004). Up to now, Japanhas provided the most abundant records of the earliest pottery in EastAsia, with more than 100 associated [sup.14]C dates on wood, charcoaland food residues (e.g. Keally et al. 2003). Nevertheless, most of thisdataset was not included even in the most recent book on Jomonarchaeology (Habu 2004: 26-42). It is evident that the earliest pottery in Japan is dated to atleast c. 13 500 BP (c. 16 800-15 600 cal BP, and probably up to c. 17200cal BP) (Nakamura et al. 2001) (Figure 2). The very early date of 16 250[+ or -] 180 BP (NUTA-1515), previously associated with pottery at theShimomouchi site (Kajiwara 1998; Yasuda 2002: 123), is now rejected dueto two factors: a) ambiguous association of [sup.14]C-dated charcoal andpottery and b) inconsistency compared with the general chronologicalsequence Noun 1. chronological sequence - a following of one thing after another in time; "the doctor saw a sequence of patients"chronological succession, succession, successiveness, sequencetemporal arrangement, temporal order - arrangement of events in time of the Japanese Palaeolithic and Incipient Jomon (Ono et al.2002; see also Habu 2004: 36-7). Naumann (2000: 1-2) challenged the reliability of the earliestJomon [sup.14]C dates due to volcanic activity on Japanese Islands anddistortion of [sup.14]C ages by 'old carbon' emission fromvolcanoes. However, the [sup.14]C dating of tree rings shows a goodagreement of results with internationally accepted calibration curves,thus no significant contribution of the 'dead' carbon fromvolcanic emission was detected in Japan (e.g. Imamura et al. 1999).Therefore, Japanese [sup.14]C dates seem to be reliable, including theearliest pottery-associated values. Russian Far East The first Final Pleistocene [sup.14]C date associated with potteryin the southern Russian Far East came to light in the early 1980s. Inthe 1990s and early 2000s, more dates older than c. 10 000 BP wereobtained from the Initial Neolithic sites of Gasya, Khummi, Gromatukha,Goncharka 1, and Novopetrovka 2, all with pottery (Kuzmin 2002; Kuzmin& Orlova 2000; Kuzmin et al. 1997; Derevianko et al. 2004) (Figure1). The charcoal [sup.14]C values are the most reliable ones becausethey are generally directly associated with human activity. These showclearly that the earliest pottery in the Russian Far East is dated to c.13 300-12 300 BP (16 500-14 100 cal BP) (Figure 2). These dates correspond well to the chronological sequence of thePalaeolithic-Neolithic transition. However, sometimes much older dateswere obtained from layers presumed to contain pottery. At the Khummisite, one of the charcoal [sup.14]C dates is 42 800 [+ or -] 1900 BP(AA-13394) (Kuzmin et al. 1997: 496). The lack of any artefacts near theplace where the dated charcoal was collected allow us to reject thisvalue. Another charcoal sample from dwelling 1 at Khummi returned a[sup.14]C date of 23 160 [+ or -] 210 BP (AA-23129) and this is alsorejected. Perhaps the natural pieces of charcoal in bedrock colluvialdeposits at Khummi, originating from forest fires This is a list of notorious forest fires: North AmericaYear Size Name Area Notes1825 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km2) Miramichi Fire New Brunswick Killed 160 people. , were laterincorporated into cultural layer and so gave anomalous [sup.14]C ages. The compression of prehistoric cultural layers in the Russian FarEast is a common feature. In order to avoid any possible age distortionfrom the 'palimpsest' stratigraphy at the key sites, attemptsto date the plant-fibre-tempered pottery directly have been conducted(O'Malley et al. 1999; Derevianko et al. 2004). According to these,the manufacture of pottery with organic temper in the Russian Far Eastmay have started as early as c. 13 300-12 700 BP, and continued until c.7300 BP. Naumann (2000: 49) mistakenly associated the [sup.14]C value of 12960 [+ or -] 120 BP (LE- 1781) on the Gasya site with the Ustinovka 3site. Furthermore, the association of the [sup.14]C date of 11 500 [+ or-] 100 BP (SOAN-1552) and pottery at the Ust' Kjachta (anotherspelling is Ust-Kyakhta) site in Transbaikal, southern Siberia, is vague(Kuzmin & Orlova 2000: 359). Thus, the assumption of the emergenceof pottery in Siberia and its spread to the Amur River Amur RiverChinese Heilong Jiang or Hei-lung ChiangRiver, northeastern Asia. The Amur proper begins at the confluence of the Shilka and Argun rivers and is 1,755 mi (2,824 km) long. basin and furtherto Japan (Naumann 2000: 49) appears to be unreliable. Korea The general understanding of the age of the earliest pottery inKorea until recently was that it began at c. 7100 BP (Choe & Bale2002). The possible extension of the beginning of the Bissalmuneui(Neolithic in the sense of this review) period with pottery to c. 12 000BP was rejected because of the ambiguous association of the earliestOsanni site [sup.14]C value, c. 12000 BE with the pottery (Choe &Bale 2002: 96). The fact that the rest of the Osanni Neolithic dates arewithin c. 7100-4400 BE makes the 12 000 BP date less reliable. Accordingto the 'chronometric hygiene' principal and generalchronological patterns of the Korean Neolithic, I also reject this date. Since the mid-1990s, the Kosan-ni site on Cheju Island off themainland Korean Peninsula (Figure 1) has been considered as one of theearliest pottery complexes with a possible age of c. 10000 BP (e.g. Im1995). The pottery from the lower component of Kosan-ni is tempered withorganic matter such as grass and/or dung (L.N. Mylnikova pers. comm.1999). However, until 2000, no [sup.14]C dates were obtained, partly dueto the lack of charcoal at the site (C.H. Kang pers. comm. 2002). Two[sup.14]C datasets were received after direct dating of this pottery(Bae & Kim 2003). Low temperature oxygen combustion of two samplesgave very different ages, 10 180 [+ or -] 65 BP (AA-38105) and 4480 [+or -] 45 BP (AA-38106). The alkali extraction method gave two quite late[sup.14]C values, 6910 [+ or -] 60 BP (SNU SNU Seoul National UniversitySNU Southern Nazarene UniversitySNU What's New? (slang)SNU Spiritualists' National Union (UK)SNU Skilled Nursing Unit (hospitals and nursing homes)02-584) and 6230 [+ or -] 320BP (SNU02-096), compared with an expected Final Pleistocene or EarliestHolocene age. It is clear that additional dating of the Kosan-ni site isrequired. Where were the centres of the first pottery in East Asia? Did pottery originate in Verb 1. originate in - come fromstem - grow out of, have roots in, originate in; "The increase in the national debt stems from the last war" one place and spread to neighbouringregions afterwards, or did it emerge in different places at the sametime and independently? In the prehistory of East Asia we have examplesof technologies with both single and multiple origins. The origin ofrice agriculture in the Yangtze River Yangtze RiverChinese Chang Jiang or Ch'ang ChiangRiver, China. Rising in the Tanggula Mountains in west-central China, it flows southeast before turning northeast and then generally east across south-central and east-central China to the East China basin and the spread from itsinitial core to Southeast Asia and other regions, such as Korea andJapan (e.g. Higham & Lu 1998), exemplifies diffusion from a singlecentre of origin. As an example of independent invention, the extensiveexploitation of marine mollusc resources in the Initial Jomon of Japansince c. 9500 BP may be referred to. It appeared almost simultaneouslywith shellfish exploitation in Europe and the Americas. In my opinion,chronological information should be used in conjunction with data aboutthe earliest pottery types (shape and mode of manufacture) in East Asiato find out where pottery originated at the end of the Pleistocene.According to critical examination of the earliest [sup.14]C datesassociated with pottery, manufacture began in China at c. 13 700-13 300BP, in Japan at c. 13 500 BP (and possibly as early as c. 13 800 BP),and in the Russian Far East at c. 13 300 BP. It is obvious that this wasan almost simultaneous appearance of the new technology in differentparts of East Asia, separated from each other by several thousandkilometres. Pottery designs, shapes, and some technological characteristics forthese three regions are quite different. In southern China, two types ofpottery were found at the Yuchanyan site, with thick walls (up to2.0cm), round bases, inorganic temper of coarse grains of quartzite quartzite,usually metamorphic rock composed of firmly cemented quartz grains. Most often it is white, light gray, yellowish, or light brown, but is sometimes colored blue, green, purple, or black by included minerals. (Zhang 1999, 2002a), and cord marks (Zhao & Wu 2000: 234). Potteryfrom the Xianrendong site is characterised by thick walls (up to 1.2cm),round bases, and inorganic temper (Zhang 1999, 2002a). The surfaces ofthe vessels are either plain or have streak marks. The earliestIncipient Jomon pottery in Japan (phase 1 in Keally et al. 2003) ismostly plain ware; few vessels have impressed or incised marks. Somepottery has fibre tempering, although this is not typical. Most of thepottery is round-based; some pots have flat bases. Phase 2 potterybelongs mainly to the linear-relief type, with bean-relief on some ofit. The shapes of vessels vary somewhat, and both pointed and flat basesoccur. Generally, Incipient Jomon pottery is quite thin (less than lcm)(Jomon Jidai Sosoki Shiryoshi 1996). The earliest far eastern Russianpottery from Osipovka (Gasya and Khummi sites) and the Gromatukhacomplexes has flat bases and is fibre-tempered, with thick walls (up to1.7cm) and almost no surface decoration (e.g. Kuzmin 2002). Only at theGoncharka 1 site were comb marks, zigzag lines, and cord impressionsobserved on the vessel surfaces (Kuzmin & Shewkomud 2003). Thus, very different pottery types (e.g. Keally et al. 2004: 349;but see Vandiver 1999) appeared simultaneously at several places withingreater East Asia at about the same time. Until now, there is nowell-documented scientific evidence of human exchange and/or migrationsbetween these areas in the Late Glacial. The attempt to correlate theearliest pottery from southern China (Xian phase, MacNeish et al. 1998)with pottery from the Ustinovka 3 site in Primorye (Russian Far East)and Miyagase site in Japan is inconsistent. Ustinovka 3 is much youngerthan the Xian phase, c. 9300 BP versus c. 13 500-11 800 BE and theMiyagase site has no reliable [sup.14]C data. Another attempt to findjoint features in the earliest pottery from Japan and the Russian FarEast, made by Kajiwara (1998), also failed to provide reliable evidence(Keally et al. 2003: 10-1). This, in my opinion, means that there wereat least three independent 'centres' of pottery origin,located in southern China, Japan, and the Russian Far East. Conclusion The critical assessment of early [sup.14]C dates for potterymanufacture has resulted in the elimination of a number of doubtfulvalues, and the surviving acceptable dates are listed in the text. Wecan conclude that the earliest technology for making food containers offired clay appeared in East Asia concurrently in three separate regions,southern China, the Japanese Islands, and the Russian Far East, duringthe Late Glacial, c. 13 700-13 300 BP (c. 17 300-15 000 cal BP; Figure2). The first pottery coincided with conditions of gradual climaticwarming after the Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) refers to the time of maximum extent of the ice sheets during the last glaciation (the W��rm or Wisconsin glaciation), approximately 20,000 years ago. This extreme persisted for several thousand years. , with the re-appearance ofdeciduous deciduous/de��cid��u��ous/ (de-sid��u-us) falling off or shed at maturity, as the teeth of the first dentition. de��cid��u��ousadj.1. trees within the conifer conifer(kŏn`ĭfûr)[Lat.,=cone-bearing], tree or shrub of the order Coniferales, e.g., the pine, monkey-puzzle tree, cypress, and sequoia. Most conifers bear cones and most are evergreens, though a few, such as the larch, are deciduous. formations of the northern regions(Amur River basin and northern Honshu), and the replacement of coniferforests with deciduous ones in southern territories (central andsouthern Honshu; Kyushu and Shikoku; lower stream of the Yangtze River). A number of problems and pitfalls were encountered with the[sup.14]C dating. In many cases the pottery itself contained no organicdatable material, and the dates relied on association with othermaterials related to human occupation, particularly bone and charcoal.In some cases the association was unclear, and the dateable materialwas, or may have been, residual. In other cases the charcoal derivedfrom natural sources in Quaternary quaternary/qua��ter��nary/ (kwah��ter-nar?e)1. fourth in order.2. containing four elements or groups.qua��ter��nar��yadj.1. Consisting of four; in fours. sediments, giving spurious dates.Nevertheless, [sup.14]C dates from charcoal appear currently to offerthe most reliable age estimates of the earliest pottery-making sites inEast Asia. Acknowledgements This research, conducted from 1988 to 2005, was made possible withthe support of research and travel grants received from severalFoundations, including the Russian Foundation for FundamentalInvestigations (1994-2004); IREX IREX International Research & Exchanges Board (1995); the U.S. NSF NSF - National Science Foundation (1997-2004); theJapan Foundation (1996); the Fulbright Program This article or section needs sourcesorreferences that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. (1997, 2004); the BK21Fund (2000); the Korea Foundation The Korea Foundation was established in 1991 by the South Korean National Assembly with the aim to enhance the image of Korea in the world and also to promote academic and cultural exchange programs. (2002), and Mombu-Kagakusho (2003).Radiocarbon dating of the eastern Russian sites was conducted in closecollaboration with several laboratories and individuals, including Drs.A.J. Timothy Jull, G.S. Burr, Douglas J. Donahue, Lyobov A. Orlova, andKim Jong Chang. I am very grateful to my colleagues for their support. I am thankful to several scholars who provided me with importantinformation about the earliest pottery complexes in East Asia, includingProfs. Anatoly P. Derevianko and Vitaly E. Medvedev, and Dr. Ludmila N.Mylnikova (Russia); Mr. Kang Chang Hwa (Korea); Drs. Charles T. Keallyand Yasuhiro Taniguchi, and Profs. Tatsuo Kobayashi and Mineo Imamura(Japan); Prof. Mihad Budja (Slovenia); Drs. Susan G. Keates and SimonKaner (UK); Dr. David J. Cohen cohenor kohen(Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. and Prof. Frederick H. West (USA). Mysincere thanks go to Prof. Charles E W. Higham (New Zealand New Zealand(zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. ) and Dr.Gregory W.L. Hodgins (USA) for useful suggestions of the earlier versionof this paper. Finally, I am grateful to two anonymous reviewers andProf. Martin Carver Martin Oswald Hugh Carver FSA BSc (London), Dip.Archaeol. (Durham), MIFA, is Professor of Archaeology at the University of York, England, and director of the Sutton Hoo Research Project and a leading exponent of new methods in excavation and survey. 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