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The Gusuku Period (AD 1050 to 1429): A New Order

Richard Pearson

in Ancient Ryukyu: An Archaeological Study of Island Communities

This chapter describes the cultural and social changes in the Ryukyu Islands during the Gusuku Period. The period marked a fundamental change in the life of the Ryukyu islanders, a transformation ... More

This chapter describes the cultural and social changes in the Ryukyu Islands during the Gusuku Period. The period marked a fundamental change in the life of the Ryukyu islanders, a transformation from hunting and gathering to cultivation and to small states within a span of a few centuries. Ironworking, which had been introduced into the Amami Islands around AD 500 (Kamimura 1999), became widespread throughout the Ryukyus. In addition, a new magnitude of extensive trade links connected the island communities to the surrounding regions of East Asia. More than a millennium of prior experience in the trade of various tropical marine shells to Japan as far north as Hokkaido, and to China and Korea, allowed the people of the Ryukyus to use the knowledge, capital, and economic expertise that flowed into the islands to achieve new forms of political and social organization.Less

The Gusuku Period

Mamoru Akamine

Robert Huey (ed.)

in The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia

This chapter looks at the Gusuku period (roughly the fifteenth century), when Ryukyu was divided into two cultural spheres – northern and southern. This period saw the rise of local fiefs, and ... More

This chapter looks at the Gusuku period (roughly the fifteenth century), when Ryukyu was divided into two cultural spheres – northern and southern. This period saw the rise of local fiefs, and increased trade between them and others in East Asia (Japan, China, Korea, etc.). The chapter describes how Song China developed an East Asian Trade sphere that encompassed all the surrounding countries, including the various fiefdoms in the Ryukyu Islands. The Ryukyus specialized in sulphur and mother-of-pearl, both in high demand in the region. As Japan ceased trading directly with China, Ryukyu became an important go-between.Less

Arriving and Settling: Island Hunter-Gatherer Colonization and Interaction

Richard Pearson

in Ancient Ryukyu: An Archaeological Study of Island Communities

This chapter studies the cultural chronology of the Central-Northern, and Southern Ryukyus, and describes some key characteristics of early prehistoric island communities. At least five types of ... More

This chapter studies the cultural chronology of the Central-Northern, and Southern Ryukyus, and describes some key characteristics of early prehistoric island communities. At least five types of interaction among these communities can be identified: exploration, migration, exchange, innovation, emulation, as well as isolation. From roughly 7000 BC to around AD 800, people of the Northern and Central Ryukyu were hunter-gatherers, subsisting on terrestrial and marine plants and animals. Similarly, in the Southern Ryukyus, a nonagricultural subsistence pattern was practiced by the first Holocene inhabitants, who lived in the islands from around 2900 BC to 2000 BC. By about AD 1050, trade throughout the Ryukyus and the adoption of cultivation transformed earlier patterns of settlement and subsistence, marking the beginning of the Gusuku Period.Less