The relation between climate and culture spread in Hokkaido (IMAGE)

Hokkaido University

The relation between climate and culture spread in Hokkaido

Caption

The relation between climate and culture spread in Hokkaido. When the summer westerly was in the north and the Tsugaru Warm Current (TWC) was strong (left), the Zoku-Jomon culture spread across Hokkaido and into Sakhalin. As the summer westerlies moved southward and the TWC weakened, the Okhotsk culture spread southward (center left); and continued to spread across the northern coast of Hokkaido even as the summer westerlies moved northwards once more (center right). Only when the TWC strengthened again did the Ainu culture spread northwards into Sakhalin (right). The Zoku-Jomon, Satsumon and Ainu are related cultures, and so represented by a single colour (Masanobu Yamamoto, Osamu Seki. Geophysical Research Letters. March 01, 2022).

Credit

Masanobu Yamamoto, Osamu Seki. Geophysical Research Letters. March 01, 2022

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