The fossil of a mammoth was found in the north of Japan, and a Naumann elephant was found in the warmer south region showing the breadth of fauna and climate in Japan during the Ice Age when it was connected to Eurasia by glaciations. Both elephants and mammoths roamed Eurasia from 300,000 B.C.E. to 10,000 years ago. Homo sapiens first crossed from Asia to Japan over a land bridge around 35,000 B.C.E., leaving stone tools and human remains. These ancient Paleolithic people saw dramatic changes in the climate, glacial retreat and the disappearance of mega fauna which became extinct. The Paleolithic peoples were followed by the Jomon Culture from before 10,000 B.C.E.
Appearance of the Jomon Culture from 10,000 B.C.E.
During the last Ice Age all four of the main islands of Japan were connected to Eurasia with a land bridge, the northern island of Hokkaido connected to Siberia, and the other three islands to the Korean Peninsula. The Jomon culture developed from the ancient ancestors who traversed this land bridge. The Jomon people were a Mesolithic-Neolithic culture of hunters and gatherers from 10,000 to 300 B.C.E.
They were considered Neolithic due to their use of pottery and other technologies. During their existence, the ice began to melt, the seas rose, and Japan became isolated from Eurasia. At this time the main islands of Japan also became separated from each other. The Jomon culture, however, continued to be seen throughout the islands of Japan.
Jomon Pottery Development
This long period of the Jomon culture is further divided into six eras of gradually increasing cultural development and population growth. The term Jomon means “chord marks” and refers to the patterns made with chords and sticks on their hand-made clay vessels and figures. Potter’s wheels were not used by the Jomon, they wrapped and layered coils of clay which they then smoothed into the desired shape and fired in open fires.
Some of the earliest pottery in the world has been found from this Jomon culture. Ceramic fragments have been found from the earliest Jomon period (14,000 B.C.E.) that predate Mesopotamian pottery by over 2000 years. The pottery was developed prior to agriculture, indicating that pottery is not a result of agricultural cultures, but can develop independently.
The Jomon people lived in caves, sunken pit dwellings and above ground houses. Their pit dwellings were usually in extended family groups, surrounding an open area. They used chestnut trees for the framing of their pit dwellings. They also ate chestnuts from the trees in addition to meat, fish, shellfish and other gathered nuts, berries, and mushrooms.
The Late Jomon Period 4000 to 400 B.C.E.
The Jomon were skilled at woodcraft, creating wooden canoes, ornaments and tools, sometimes lacquered. Figurines, particularly female clay statues, began to appear in increasing numbers indicating religious ritual and belief. From early times to the late period of Jomon culture, several types of stone circles were formed indicating the formal development of religion and ritual practices. The dead were often buried in shell mounds, along with figurines.
The Jomon culture was seen to advance in the Late Period from and in the south began to plant rice. The Jomon left no written records, but some scholars believe that the Jomon spoke an Austronesian language, related to the languages of the South Pacific.
The Jomon period came to an end with the arrival of the Yayoi people from North of China who replaced them and supplanted what was left of Jomon culture. The Jomon had a long history of early civilization in Asia, parallel to the earliest great civilizations of Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley and Indus Valley cultures. Some have postulated a connection between the ancestors of the Jomon and early Americans such as Kennewick man based on cultural ties and skeletal remains.
Sources:
Crawford, Gary "Jomon Tradition" The Oxford Companion to Archaeology Oxford University Press (1996)
Habu, Junko. Ancient Jomon of Japan. Cambridge University Press (2004)
Hooker, Richard Ancient Japan: Jomon and Yayoi (1996)Imamura, Keiji Prehistoric Japan University of Hawai Press (1996)
New World Encyclopedia. "Jomon Culture,"
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Paula I. Nielson - Paula I. Nielson, Ph.D., holds credentials and interests in anthropology, archaeology, religion, the Middle East and Asia.
