青森県における縄文時代の遺跡数の変遷

摘要

現在，北海道•北東北の縄文遣跡群の世界遺産登録を目指した活動が進行している.三内丸山遺跡の調査以降，青森県は縄文の遺跡の宝庫として広く認知されるようになったが，三内丸山遺跡ゃ是川遺跡といった著名な遺跡が注目される一方，他県と比べ縄文遺跡が多いのか少ないのか，時期毎の増減はどうなっているのかといった基本情報は必ずしも明確にされないまま，集落論が語られてきた.個々の遺跡の発掘調査データに立脚したミクロな分析の積み上げは確かに重要だが，同時に文化財保護行政資料として作成された遺跡地名表•遺跡地図データを学問の俎上に載せ，マクロな視点からそれぞれの地域の縄文遺跡の特徴を大掴みで把握することも必要であろう.本稿では，青森県遺跡地図情報から時期毎•地域毎の遺跡数を集計し，それと青森県内で検出された竪穴住居跡数の集計情報を重ね合わせた上で，宮城県の遺跡数との比較を行うことにより，縄文時代の遺跡数や人口規模の変遷を検討した.%In this paper, changes in the number of ruins and population during the Jomon Period in Aomori Prefecture are discussed. The number of ruins and pit dwellings were aggregated among periods and areas using the archaeological-site map of Aomori Prefecture posted online. These data were comparison-analyzed with the data from Miyagi Prefecture. From the incipient Jomon to the late stage of the initial Jomon Period, the number of archaeological sites in Miyagi and Aomori Prefectures gradually increased in a similar manner. The number of archaeological sites then remained almost flat from the middle stage of the early Jomon to the early stage of the middle Jomon before increasing rapidly in the late stage of the middle Jomon. Due to low temperatures, the number of archaeological sites drastically decreased in Miyagi Prefecture as well as in the Kanto region during the latter stages of the middle Jomon, and increased in Aomori Prefecture because of the dispersion of large villages, into small villages, although it is highly possible that the population did not change to a large extent from the late stage of the middle Jomon to the late stage of the late Jomon, judging from the total floor space of the pit dwellings excavated. In the final Jomon Period, the number of archaeological sites slightly increased in Miyagi Prefecture as well as in the Kanto region and decreased in Aomori Prefecture, where archaeological sites continued to decrease until the Kofun Period. The Aomori region is generally assumed to have been a prosperous place that gave rise to the Kamegaoka culture, based on studies of remains excavated at archaeological sites such as the Kamegaoka site and the Korekawa-Nakai site, but the findings of my research indicate that the settlement and population of the Aomori region were already declining at the time when Kamegaoka culture flourished in the final Jomon.