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This discussion evaluates transition phases in Japanese prehistory and their implications for population history.

April 4, 2026Open Access

The Archaeology of East Asia and the Population History of the Japanese Archipelago: A Discussion

Key Points

This discussion evaluates transition phases in Japanese prehistory and their implications for population history.
Comments on papers presented in a session
Focus on the Palaeolithic to Jomon transition
Examine cultural and biological factors
Analyze the Jomon to Yayoi transition
Conclude with observations on Japanese Archipelago peopling
Identified cultural and biological continuity and discontinuity across Palaeolithic, Jomon, and Yayoi periods.
Discussed implications of the Dual Structure Model for understanding population history.
Highlighted significant transitions in the archaeological record.

Abstract

I offer my comments on the papers presented at the morning session, by focusing on their implications to two "transitions" : namely, (I) the transition from the Palaeolithic to Jomon, and (II) the transition from Jomon to Yayoi.Issues here, of course, are biological and cultural continuity/discontinuity between the three earlier chronological units in Japanese prehistory.I will conclude with some observation regarding (III) Peopling of the Japanese Archipelago and the Dual Structure Model for the population history of the Japanese.

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