Environmental Changes over 1000 Years at the Karako-Kagi Site in Japan

In this presentation, we will report on the environmental changes that have taken place over the past 1000 years at the Karako-Kagi Site in Nara Prefecture, Japan. The Karako-Kagi site in Nara Prefecture, Japan, is famous as one of the largest moated settlements in Japan, which was inhabited for almost the entire Yayoi period (10th century BC - 3rd century AD). In recent years, the accuracy of climate change in prehistoric times has been dramatically improving in Japan due to the results of oxygen isotope ratio analysis. However, the current situation is that climate change is being studied in broad terms, and diachronic changes at the site level have not been investigated. Therefore, the presenters will clarify environmental changes at the site level by conducting a diachronic analysis of the fossil pollen contained in approximately 30 sediment samples excavated from the Karako-Kagi Site to date. In addition, the researchers plan to conduct excavation surveys in March 2025, and by analyzing about 10 new samples in addition to the existing samples, they will clarify more detailed environmental changes. The researchers intend to use the results of this research as a basis for clarifying how the people of the Karako-Kagi Site responded to climate change.