Radiocarbon dating of textile Components from Historical silk costumes and other cloth products in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1663-1674
Author(s):  
Toshio Nakamura ◽  
Takako Terada ◽  
Chikako Ueki ◽  
Masayo Minami

ABSTRACTIn our research on traditional clothing and accessories in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, we have collected cloth fragments from traditional Ryukyuan costumes and other fabric products for radiocarbon (14C) dating. In this study, the cloth samples from historical costumes of noro priestesses (two samples), men and women from high-status families (five samples), and non-costume cloth products (seven samples), belonging to the traditional hereditary religious system of the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom, which lasted from approximately the 14th century AD to 1829 were analyzed. One extra sample originated from a silk shawl known as a Manila shawl. The oldest among the 15 samples dates back to the mid-15th century, but some newer ones belong to the unclear calibrated age range of AD 1650–1950. The measured dates are very consistent with the historical record, suggesting that acetone and acid-alkali-acid treatments are an adequate cleaning method for radiocarbon dating of silk and cotton samples produced in the late Middle Age and later.

Author(s):  
Ryosuke Fujita ◽  
Kazuhisa Goto ◽  
Yasufumi Iryu ◽  
Tomoya Abe

Abstract Huge tsunami waves have repeatedly bombarded the southern end of the Ryukyu Islands (Miyako and Yaeyama Islands, southwestern Japan) at several-hundred-year intervals. Therefore, clarifying the islands’ paleotsunami history is important for risk assessment. Nevertheless, discrepancies of paleotsunami histories exist among regional studies of tsunami boulders and sandy tsunami deposits. Radiocarbon ages of tsunami boulders indicate that tsunami events of the last 2400 years have occurred every 150–400 years, most recently the historical 1771 Meiwa tsunami. Sandy tsunami deposits at Yaeyama Islands show that four tsunami events of the last 2000 years struck the islands at approximately 600-year intervals. Sandy tsunami deposits of the Miyako Islands have been studied only rarely. Therefore, studying sandy tsunami deposits in the Miyako Islands is crucially important for clarifying the paleotsunami history of this region. We conducted a trench survey on Minna Island, located among the westernmost Miyako Islands, which revealed two sandy tsunami deposits under a coral tsunami boulder transported by the 1771 tsunami. The upper tsunami deposit was likely deposited by the 1771 tsunami, as inferred from stratigraphic correlation to the tsunami boulder. However, the lower tsunami deposit was probably deposited 700–1000 years ago, which is consistent with the age range of the paleotsunami reported for Yaeyama Islands. Because sandy tsunami deposits found in this and earlier studies are thick and deposited at high elevation and far inland, these are useful markers of large tsunami events similar to the 1771 event. However, the reported tsunami boulders of various sizes are deposited along the coast and reefs: they can be formed not only by large tsunami events but also by small ones. It is noteworthy that each tsunami deposit is coarse and thick (40–48 cm) relative to the island elevation (about 12 m maximum, 7 m above the mean sea level at the study site). By assuming that tsunamis have affected this region repeatedly during the past few thousand years at around 600-year intervals, tsunamis might have been important geomorphic agents for building up small reef-surrounded islands such as Minna Island.


2013 ◽  
Vol 864-867 ◽  
pp. 2335-2339
Author(s):  
Ya Pan Liu ◽  
Jian Cheng Kang ◽  
Jiong Zhu ◽  
Qin Chen Han

Using salinity database of World Ocean Atlas 2009 (WOA09) issued by NOAA in 2010, refer the range of high-salinity tongue to indicate the strength about high-salinity water, from the perspective of structural changes of salinity; the water exchange through Ryukyu Islands upper 500 m have been analyzed, the results show that: due to Ryukyu Trough, currents on both sides of Ryukyu Islands occur exchange, for upper 500 m, high-salinity water in east of the Ryukyu Islands mainly invade the west waterthe Kuroshio in East China Sea; the intrusion strength is powerful from the depth of 100 m to 200 m, and the 150 m layer is the core layer of high-salinity water intrusion; the high-salinity water at the east of Ryukyu Islands invades the Kuroshio are stronger in March, May, June, September, October and November, are weaker in April and December.


1986 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Kitamura

Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit, a leguminous shrub, has come into use as a fodder plant for animals in the Ryukyu Islands as it provides highly palatable, high quality feed (Kitamura, 1985). It is superior to other feeds available in this regard (Higashiohmine, Aramoto & Yamashiro, 1971; Isa et al. 1982).


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Kodama ◽  
Hideko Takayanagi ◽  
Kosuke Yoshii ◽  
Thuy Thi Nhu Ha ◽  
Ryuji Asami ◽  
...  

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4951 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-491
Author(s):  
JUN SOUMA ◽  
TADASHI ISHIKAWA

In this paper, we revised the physopeltine genus Physopelta Amyot & Serville, 1843 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Largidae) from Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Five species were recognized and diagnosed, including two new species, Ph. (Neophysopelta) lutaspidata sp. nov. from northern and central Taiwan and Ph. (N.) fusciscutellata sp. nov. from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan and Taiwan, and three known species, Ph. (N.) gutta gutta (Burmeister, 1834), Ph. (N.) parviceps Blöte, 1931, and Ph. (N.) quadriguttata Bergroth, 1894. Physopelta (Neophysopelta) fusciscutellata sp. nov., was previously regarded as either of the two species, Ph. (N.) cincticollis Stål, 1863 and Ph. (N.) parviceps, for populations from Taiwan. Previous records of Ph. (N.) cincticollis from Japan proper and Korea, and Ph. (N.) slanbuschii (Fabricius, 1787) from the Ryukyu Islands were considered as misidentifications of Ph. parviceps. A key to facilitate the identification of the five species known in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan is provided. Additionally, Ph. (N.) parviceps is recorded from China (Guangdong Province and Zhejiang Province) for the first time. 


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutaka Tashiro

Purpose This study aimed to analyze the lipid content and fatty acid composition in the liver and muscle of a porcupinefish species inhabiting waters around the Ryukyu Islands to investigate their potential as a source of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs). Design/methodology/approach Porcupinefish were collected along the Okinawa Island coast. The composition of fatty acids and cholesterol in both liver and muscle were analyzed using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer. Findings The liver of Okinawan long-spine porcupinefish was rich in lipids whose content correlated to the proportion of liver/body weight. Fatty acid compositions in their liver and muscles were similar to each other. LC-PUFAs occupied 44% of total fatty acids, with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) being the dominant (42%), whereas eicosapentaenoic acid occupied 2.4%. The liver contained 1,690 mg of cholesterol and 14.8 g of DHA per 100 g, whose proportion decreased in summer compared to other seasons (p = 0.036). Originality/value The liver of Okinawan long-spine porcupinefish, which has not yet been commercially used although its non-toxicity is claimed, can be an excellent source of LC-PUFAs, especially DHA, accentuating its potential in food supplements’ production.


Radiocarbon ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Pazdur ◽  
Mieczysław F. Pazdur ◽  
Jacek Pawlyta ◽  
Andrzej Górny ◽  
Michał Olszewski

We report preliminary results of a long-term systematic study intended to gather paleoclimatic records from precisely dated speleothems. The research project is limited to speleothems deposited in caves of the Cracow-Wieluń Upland, the largest and best-explored karst region in Poland, covering ca. 2900 km2 with >1000 caves. Speleothem samples were selected from collections of the Geological Museum of the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Cracow. Radiocarbon dates of these samples from ca. 45–20 ka bp almost exactly coincide with age range of the Interplenivistulian. A break in speleothem formation between ca. 20 and 10 ka bp may be interpreted as a result of serious climatic deterioration associated with the maximum extent of the last glaciation. We observed differences among 14C, U/Th and AAR dating results. Changes of δ13C and δ18O in speleothems that grew between ca. 30 and 20 ka bp may be interpreted as changes of paleoclimatic conditions.


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