The study of maritime adaptation among the prehistoric cultures of the Russian Far East has focused upon several problems, including environmental change, the identification of early coastal populations, the transition from land-based hunter-gatherer subsistence practices to the exploitation of river and littoral resources, and accompanying changes in social organization and technology. Global warming at the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene transition altered paleocostal landscapes through an increase in plant and animal diversity, rising sea levels, the inundation of the coastal plain, and the formation of ingression bays. In this altered landscape, early sites exhibiting the use of both river and marine resources have been found as far inland as 30 km from the coast. These include the Ustinovka Complex in the Zerkalnaya River Basin, dated between 12,000 and 9,500 BP, and the Rudnaya Early Neolithic culture (7,500-6,000 BP). The presence of bifacial tools, stone fish effigy, early ceramics, light ground structures and lithic caches at Ustinovka 3suggests that this site functioned as a seasonal base camp for a population with a hunting-gathering and fishing economy.

The Rudnaya Early Neolithic sites are located just one river valley north of the Zerkalnaya Basin and exhibit close cultural affinity to the Ustinovka cultural tradition. The site of Rudnaya-Pristan is located 4 km from the coast and possesses pit-houses where the inventory clearly points to well developed fishing, hunting, and gathering of terrestrial and littoral resources. A second important Rudnaya site is found at Chertovy Vorota cave, situated about 30 km inland. This contained three structures, an abundance of pottery, and artifacts made from stone, bone, and marine shell; including a sea mammal effigy. The rich faunal assemblage from the cave reflects the full diversity of potential terrestrial, riverine and marine resources available in this landscape. All of this suggests that the northern Sea of Japan was favorable for the onset of maritime adaptations at least from the Early Holocene Period.