A number of AMS radiocarbon dates, accumulated since the 1990's, reveal that ceramic technology first developed among non-agricultural, hunter-gatherer societies in the late Pleistocene of East Asia. Specifically, on the Japanese Archipelago the radiocarbon chronology indicates a diverse trajectory of pottery adoption. The earliest adoption of pottery here was by mobile hunter-gatherers, regardless of region and climatic event. On the other hand, pottery culture suddenly started to flourish later along the warmer Pacific coastline region of southwestern Japan just after the onset of climatic warming of the Late Glacial, and spread throughout the archipelago by the onset of the Holocene. Climatic amelioration, therefore, did not induce the ‘beginning’ of pottery use, but prompted the ‘development’ of sedentary lifestyles accompanying intensified use of pottery. This complicated situation clearly means that motivation and context of pottery adoption do not follow a simple explanation. However, recent studies of chemical and isotope analyses of charred residues on pottery indicate similar use of early pottery throughout the archipelago in the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene. This paper critically re-evaluates these issues through examining synchronic and diachronic archaeological contexts. Existing data indicate that there is great inter-regional variability in technology, subsistence, paleoenvironment, and adaptation associated with pottery, therefore the motivation for the adoption of pottery is distinct within various geographical, environmental, and temporal contexts in the archipelago.

自 1990 年代以来积累的许多 AMS 放射性碳测年表明，陶瓷技术首先在东亚更新世晚期的非农业、狩猎采集社会中发展起来。具体而言，在日本列岛，放射性碳年表表明陶器采用的不同轨迹。这里最早采用陶器的是流动的狩猎采集者，不分地区和气候事件。另一方面，在晚冰期气候变暖之后，陶器文化在日本西南部较温暖的太平洋沿岸地区突然开始蓬勃发展，并在全新世开始时传播到整个群岛。因此，气候改善并没有导致陶器使用的“开始”，但随着陶器的大量使用，促进了久坐生活方式的“发展”。这种复杂的情况显然意味着采用陶器的动机和背景并不遵循简单的解释。然而，最近对陶器上烧焦残留物的化学和同位素分析的研究表明，在更新世晚期和全新世早期，整个群岛中早期陶器的使用类似。本文通过考察共时和历时考古背景，批判性地重新评估了这些问题。现有数据表明，与陶器相关的技术、生存、古环境和适应性存在很大的区域间差异，因此采用陶器的动机在群岛的不同地理、环境和时间背景下是不同的。