Starchy food before the cultivation of rice in Japan is generally assumed to have been mainly acorns. This is suggessted by the abundance of acorn shells in many archaeological sites. In some locations chestnuts are also abundant. However, very little is known about the use of many edible plants that lack easily preserved seeds or nutshells. Until recently, there was no way to detect such plants in the archaeological record.

In this project we are investigating the utilisation of starchy plant foods in the Jomon and Paleolithic periods in Japan. Our main approach will be a search for starch residues on food processing tools and in archaeological sediments.