Thermoluminescence Dating of Pottery in the Incipient Jomon Period

The Ryusenmon pottery which was discovered at Fukui Cave site in 1954 was dated to be 12700±500 years B．P．by radiocarbon method（GAK－950）．Moreover，burnt sandstones discovered in 1972 from Sempukuji Cave，where another Ryusenmon pottery was excavated，were dated to be 11840±740 years B．P．by quartz inclusion TL method．These result ssuggest that the Ryusenmon pottery is the oldest pottery discovered so far in the world．However，some of archaeologists have some doubts about these data as the oldest pottery，because the measurements were not made for the pottery itself． In the present measurements，the potteries in the incipient Jomon period were used as samples for TL dating．The Ryusenmon potteries from Hanamlyama．site in Yokohama city have been dated to be 11360－10280 years B．P．by quartz inclusion technique．These results are close to the date of the Ryusenmon pottery from Sempukuji Cave．The Jokonmon pottery from the Futsukaichi Cave in Oita prefecture have been dated to be 1O670－10480 yearsB．P．，which succeed to the age of Ryusenmon pottery