Ancient Ryukyu: An Archaeological Study of Island Communities

418 Pages·2013·8.96 MB·English

by  Richard Pearson

An
Archaeological
Study of
Island
Communities
Richard Pearson
Ancient Ryukyu

Ancient Ryukyu
An Archaeological Study
of Island Communities
Richard Pearson
University of Hawai‘i Press
Honolulu
Publication of this book has been supported by a grant from the
Center for Okinawan Studies, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
© 2013 University of Hawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
18 17 16 15 14 1 3 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pearson, Richard J., author.
Ancient Ryukyu : an archaeological study of island communities /
Richard Pearson.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8248-3712-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Ryukyu Islands—Antiquities. 2. Ryukyu Islands—History—
To 1879. I. Title.
DS895.R935P43 2014
952'.29—dc23 2013012417
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free
paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Council on Library Resources.
Designed by Integrated Composition Systems, Spokane, Washington
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc.
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables xi
Acknowledgments xiii
1 Introduction: The Archaeology of Ryukyu Islanders 1
2 The Active Environment of the Ryukyus 17
3 Pleistocene Inhabitants 36
4 Arriving and Settling: Island Hunter-Gatherer Colonization
and Interaction 47
5 Surviving in the Archipelago: Island Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence 82
6 Exchange Networks and the Lure of Tropical Shells 126
7 The Gusuku Period (AD 1050 to 1429): A New Order 145
8 Ryukyu Trade in the Gusuku and Early Ryukyu
Kingdom Periods 194
9 The Early Ryukyu Kingdom (AD 1429 to 1609) 234
10 Discussion and Conclusions 273
Appendix 1: Building a Chronology of Trade Ceramics 293
Appendix 2: The Successive Rulers of the Chūzan or Ryukyu Kingdom 323
Glossary of Japanese and Chinese Characters 325
References Cited 335
Index 389

Figures
Frontispiece. Chinese ceramics from the Kyōnouchi area, Shuri Gusuku
1.1. The Ryukyu Islands and surrounding areas 2
1.2. Archaeological chronology of the Okinawa and Sakishima
Islands 3
1.3. Chronology of the Shellmound Period of the Central Ryukyus
(Okinawa Islands) 11
1.4. Interpretive chronology of the Shellmound Period for the
Okinawa Islands 14
2.1. The Ryukyu Islands in the Late Pleistocene at about 20,000 BP 20
2.2. The location of the Kikai Caldera and neighboring calderas 31
2.3. The formation of the fringing reef of Tonakijima, Central Ryukyus 33
3.1. Location of major sites of the Palaeolithic and Shellmound
Periods mentioned in the text 37
3.2. Human Skull No. 1, Minatogawa Fissure Site, southern
Okinawajima 39
4.1. Diagnostic pottery types from Okinawajima 50
4.2. Pottery wares (yōshiki) of the Central Ryukyus 51
4.3. Pottery groupings, first proposed by Takamiya Hiroe 62
4.4. Shell adzes of the Non-Ceramic Period, Sakishima 75
5.1. Major marine shells found in archaeological sites and their
environments 86
5.2. Major types of reef fish recovered from sites in the Central
and Southern Ryukyus 115
5.3 (a). Number of calibrated AMS 14C dates per two-hundred-year
interval, Okinawa Islands, 5250 BC to 1850 BC 122
vii
viii Figures
5.3 (b). Number of calibrated AMS 14C dates per one-hundred-year
interval, Okinawa Islands, 1550 BC to AD 1650 122
5.3 (c). Number of calibrated AMS 14C dates per two-hundred-year
interval, Sakishima Islands, 2850 BC to AD 1550 122
6.1. Shells of the Central Ryukyus important in exchange systems 130
6.2. Types of bracelets, fashioned from Ryukyu shells, recovered
from Kyushu sites 131
6.3. Examples of the earliest types of Chinese coins found in
Ryukyu sites 133
6.4 (a). Burial DIII2, Hirota Site: Early Period 137
6.4 (b). Burial D15, Hirota Site: Late Period 138
7.1. Chronology of the Gusuku Period 146
7.2. Location of major sites of the Gusuku and Early Ryukyu
Kingdom Periods mentioned in the text 147
7.3. Plan of main and attached houses at the Uganhirā Hoppō Site,
Yomitan, Okinawajima 155
7.4. Plan of Akakina Gusuku, Amami Ōshima 157
7.5. Plan of the Yamada Hanta Site, Gusuku Site Group,
Kikaigashima 162
7.6. Aerial photo of excavations of the Yamada Hanta Site,
Gusuku Site Group, Kikaigashima 163
7.7. Kamuiyaki ceramics, showing vessel shapes and surface
treatments 166
7.8. Map of the Urasoe Gusuku area 172
7.9 (a). Stone Coffin from Urasoe Yōdore, early fifteenth
century AD 174
7.9 (b). Stone Coffin No. 4. from Urasoe Yōdore, early fifteenth
century AD 175
7.10. Reconstruction of Nakijin Gusuku in the late fourteenth
and early fifteenth centuries AD 180
7.11. Reconstruction of the building sequence of the Main Enclosure,
Nakijin Gusuku 182
8.1. Major Asian trading centers in contact with the Ryukyu Islands
in the Late Gusuku Period and Early Ryukyu Kingdom Period 195
9.1. Map of the Shuri royal capital area, showing Shuri Gusuku,
adjacent temples, and the Royal Mausoleum (Tama Udun) 240
9.2. Plan of Shuri Gusuku, late nineteenth century AD 243
9.3. Reconstruction of a helmet found in the Royal Storehouse
of the Kyōnouchi 253
Figures ix
9.4. Carved stone platform for a coffin, Tenzan Ryō, Shuri,
fifteenth century AD 260
9.5. Map of Naha in the Early Ryukyu Kingdom Period 264
9.6. Plan of Furusutobaru Site, Ishigakijima, showing fifteen
stone-walled enclosures 271
App. 1.1. Changsha Ware plates, ninth century AD, from the
Sonai area, west coast of Iriomotejima 297
App. 1.2. Types of Chinese ceramics found in Okinawa,
according to Kin 298
App. 1.3. Whitewares and celadons recovered from Okinawan sites 300
App. 1.4. Sherds of a blue and white vessel recovered from Nakijin
Gusuku, dating from the latter half of the Yuan period 310
App. 1.5. Ming blue and white bowls found in Nakijin Gusuku 312
App. 1.6. Thai (Siamese) wares found in Nakijin Gusuku 315
App. 1.7. Vietnamese wares found in Okinawan sites 317
App. 1.8. Lead-glazed South Chinese Three-Color Ware recovered
from the Kyōnouchi Area, Shuri Gusuku 319
App. 1.9. Early brown-glazed ware, twelfth to thirteenth centuries AD 320