ABSTRACT
As an archaeological term, Neolithization is generally defined as the transitional process from an economy based on hunter-gathering to one based on agriculture. This process is normally depicted as a package of events including the establishment of a sedentary lifestyle as well as the emergence of domesticated plants and animals, accompanied by several significant technological innovations like ground/polished stone tools and pottery. Polished stone adzes and pottery apparently originate long before the spread of a sedentary lifestyle in the East Asian Inland Seas. The emergence of pottery marks the end of the Palaeolithic and the beginning of the Jomon era in Japan. The nature of settlement sites can be a good indicator of sedentariness, but it is always difficult to determine what kind of archaeological settlements are required to say that people became sedentary. Agriculture in the East Asian Inland Seas can be separated into two types by the main products: millet agriculture and rice agriculture.
