Journal on Policy and Complex Systems
1 . Introduction
Anthropology and archeology are disciplines where human history is reconstructed by research into materials such as animal and plant residues , and the remains of human bones , artifacts ( e . g ., stone tools and pottery ), and architecture . Recently , many excavations have been performed and much anthropological and archeological evidence has been accumulated . Therefore , several cross-sectional situations at times and places in the past have been revealed by research into anthropological and archeological evidence . However , if any changes occurred between cross-sectional situations , researchers need to generate hypotheses for these changes .
To generate hypotheses in conventional anthropology and archeology , researchers have used the few materials available . Subsequently , they verify their hypotheses by investigating other evidence . However , missing materials and researchers ’ limitations can make it difficult to generate hypotheses . Even when hypotheses can be generated , these are often simple and of limited number .
We are developing novel techniques to generate systematically plausible and falsifiable hypotheses through agent-based simulations ( ABSs ). So far , we have applied these techniques to ancient Japanese history ; in particular , the native Jomon people played a formative role in the establishment of agrarian culture on the Japanese mainland ( Sakahira & Terano , 2014a , 2014b ). In this paper , we will apply the same method to another Japanese case . Using a generative approach ABSs explain emergent phenomena ( Epstein , 2007 ), therefore , they enable us to generate more numerous and complex assumptions than those generated by conventional methods . Additionally , these hypotheses enable us to narrow the ways of interpreting other currently undiscovered evidence .
In our previous papers ( Sakahira & Terano , 2014a , 2014b ), we discussed the problem of population dynamics after the introduction of agriculture on the Japanese mainland . The hypotheses were generated by ABSs . In the Japanese anthropological and archeological problem of whether the native Jomon people or Chinese – Korean immigrants played a formative role in the establishment of agrarian culture during the Yayoi period ( 300 BC – 250 AD ), which has long been a source of controversy ( Fujio , 1999 ), we generated a new hypothesis that native Jomon people played a formative role in the establishment of agrarian culture by ABSs .
For most anthropological and archeological studies in Japan , the required data , especially paleoenvironmental records , are not widely available However , even if there are less data available , ABSs are able to compensate for this paucity of data . Referring to the conclusions of our previous papers , we will execute the same arguments in a different context in Japanese history .
In this paper , we deal with the case of the contact between hunter – gatherers and agrarian cultures in the Okinawa Islands of the southern Japanese archipelago .
68