Fossil hemp fruits in the earliest Jomon period from the Okinoshima site, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

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  • 千葉県沖ノ島遺跡から出土した縄文時代早期のアサ果実
  • チバケン オキノシマ イセキ カラ シュツドシタ ジョウモン ジダイ ソウキ ノ アサ カジツ
  • Fossil hemp fruits in the earliest Jomon period from the Okinoshima site, Chiba Prefecture

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Abstract

Fruits of Cannabis sativa were found from the sediment of the earliest Jomon period at the Okinoshima site, Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture, central Japan. The fruit of Cannabis sativa can be distinguished from that of Humulus by the size and morphology. The stones of Humulus lupulus and H. scandens have a circlular lateral view and a circular or heart-shaped attachment on the top, and lacks a shallow hollow at the base. The stone of Humulus lupulus is smaller than that of Cannabis sativa. The fruits obtained from the Okinoshima site and those of Cannabis sativa both have an ovoid lateral view, a round knob on the top instead of a heart-shaped attachment, and a shallow hollow at the base. Thus the fruits of the Okinoshima site were identified as Cannabis sativa, the oldest record of its fruits in the world, although its fibers have been found from the sediments of the incipient Jomon period at the Torihama shell midden, Fukui Prefecture. Contrary to fossil fibers that can be imported from outside Japan, existence of fossil fruits implies that Cannabis sativa grew in Japan in the early Jomon period. Hemp may have been cultivated and utilized around the site.

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