The transformation of the landscape
What type of landscape provided the context for the development of the paddy fields at Nakanishi-Akitsu? On the relatively higher ground near the hills, there were stands of forest, while on the lower slopes paddy fields were newly established.
We have seen above that the site was located between a river and a forest, on ground predominantly covered by grasses. In areas 4 and 6 at Akitsu, the black palaeosol sealed late final Jomon layers. Pollen analysis suggests a relatively open forest with chestnut and oak.[836] Investigations at Nakanishi area 14 showed that black palaeosol which became the cultivated soil for the paddy field contained only small amounts of arboreal pollen but high densities of phytoliths of Phragmites and Pleioblastus.[837] This reconstructed landscape comprised unstable land, which fluctuated between wetland conditions when the groundwater level was high, and dry land with stands of bamboo. If it had been a stable wetland, it would have supported an ecosystem with high biodiversity, making it attractive to Jomon collectors, but during dry periods when it became just an arid riverbed, it was no longer so productive or useful. The introduction of the new agricultural techniques which transformed the local landscape would therefore not have been problematic in terms of previous subsistence activities. Indeed, the utilization of this landscape for rice paddy would have complemented the existing subsistence strategies. I consider this to be one reason for the rapid and smooth introduction of irrigated rice cultivation in the Nara basin (Figure 15.8).
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