Event
Speaker Series
Monday, September 17, 2018 12:30to14:30
Peterson Hall
Rm. 116, 3460 rue McTavish, Montreal, QC, H3A 0E6, CA
Jomon Food Diversity, Climate
Change and Long-term Sustainability
By Junko Habu, University of California Berkeley
Archaeologists have long been interested in the study of long-term social
change. Factors that involve specialization and centralization have been
proposed as prime movers for the “development” of human societies.
Contrary to these interpretations, I propose a hypothesis that diversity and
decentralization may be critical for maintaining long-term sustainability of
human societies. Using a case study from the Early and Middle Jomon periods
(ca. 4000-2400 BC) of prehistoric Japan, this presentation emphasizes the
importance of framing recent and current global environmental problems in
the context of the greater human experiences.