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The earliest categorized period of Japanese history extending from roughly 8,500 BCE to 300 BCE.<ref>Some sources give starting dates as early as 14,500 BCE; Schirokauer, et al., 6. Some evidence has also been found for human habitation going back as far as 200,000 years ago, or even earlier. David Lu, ''Sources of Japanese History'', New York: McGraw Hill (1973), 3.</ref> The period is named for pottery bearing cord marks<ref>''Jô'' 縄 meaning "cord" or "rope," and ''mon'' 文 meaning "markings"</ref> from this period. The Jômon period in the Japanese islands may have seen the earliest invention (discovery) of [[pottery]] (ceramics) technology in the world.

The earliest categorized period of Japanese history extending from roughly 8,500 BCE to 300 BCE.<ref>Some sources give starting dates as early as 14,500 BCE; Schirokauer, et al., 6. Some evidence has also been found for human habitation going back as far as 200,000 years ago, or even earlier. David Lu, ''Sources of Japanese History'', New York: McGraw Hill (1973), 3.</ref> The period is named for pottery bearing cord marks<ref>''Jô'' 縄 meaning "cord" or "rope," and ''mon'' 文 meaning "markings"</ref> from this period. The Jômon period in the Japanese islands may have seen the earliest invention (discovery) of [[pottery]] (ceramics) technology in the world.

The majority of Jômon pottery was, of course, quite simple and utilitarian in style and design. However, for a brief period towards the end of the Jômon period, some communities created exceptional vessels with flamboyant flame-like shapes, in a rather impractical design. Wide-eyed doll-like figures known as ''[[dogu|dôgu]]'' are also oft-cited examples of Jômon pottery; typically found broken in particular ways, archaeologists have surmised that these doll-like figures may have played a ritual purpose, being deliberately broken as part of the ritual of activating the object, in order to provide healing, or perhaps some other effect.

The majority of Jômon pottery was, of course, quite simple and utilitarian in style and design. However, for a brief period towards the end of the Jômon period, some communities created exceptional vessels with flamboyant flame-like shapes; examples of these found in archaeological excavations show traces of food, and evidence of having been used over fires, thus indicating that these dramatic objects were, in fact, used for practical food preparation purposes.<ref>"Jômon flame pot from the Dôdaira site, Tsunan town," gallery labels, British Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/20701603728/sizes/l]</ref> Wide-eyed doll-like figures known as ''[[dogu|dôgu]]'' are also oft-cited examples of Jômon pottery; typically found broken in particular ways, archaeologists have surmised that these doll-like figures may have played a ritual purpose, being deliberately broken as part of the ritual of activating the object, in order to provide healing, or perhaps some other effect.

The earliest evidence for human habitation in the Japanese archipelago dates to roughly 35,000 years ago; humans might have lived in the islands before that, however. These people are believed to have entered the islands from the north, and to be related to those who settled Kamchatka and [[Sakhalin]], and entered North America.<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 2.</ref> They were chiefly hunter-gatherers and fishers, who wielded stone tools and are designated as a Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) society. This society gave way to the beginnings of what is termed the Jômon culture with the gradual onset of a variety of developments, chief among them the invention of pottery. The invention of pottery is among the chief characteristics by which archaeologists define the shift from Paleolithic to Neolithic (New Stone Age). Scholars have noted it particularly interesting that this hunter-gatherer society should have developed pottery, since in the rest of the world pottery was quite typically developed for storage for grain & other agricultural products.<ref name=craig4>Craig, 4.</ref> Other developments at this time include advancements in trapping technology, and in bows & arrows, expanded use of seafood and marine products, increased size of settlements, and the limited beginnings of agricultural cultivation. Evidence from Jômon period sites, including pieces of bone and shell, traces of pollen, and other sorts of remains, indicate that Jômon peoples likely consumed a very diverse diet, including making use of multiple parts of a given plant or animal (e.g. not just the fruit, but also the flower, stem, and root); excavations at such sites have uncovered evidence of the consumption of more than sixty species of mammals including not only [[deer]] and [[boar]], but also [[monkey]] and ''[[tanuki]]'', as well as fifty-five types of plants, thirty-five species of birds, and more than 420 species of marine life. The bones of birds and sea mammals, as well as of other creatures, were often used to make tools.<ref name=nurturing75>Kobayashi, 75-76.</ref>

The earliest evidence for human habitation in the Japanese archipelago dates to roughly 35,000 years ago; humans might have lived in the islands before that, however. These people are believed to have entered the islands from the north, and to be related to those who settled Kamchatka and [[Sakhalin]], and entered North America.<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 2.</ref> They were chiefly hunter-gatherers and fishers, who wielded stone tools and are designated as a Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) society. This society gave way to the beginnings of what is termed the Jômon culture with the gradual onset of a variety of developments, chief among them the invention of pottery. The invention of pottery is among the chief characteristics by which archaeologists define the shift from Paleolithic to Neolithic (New Stone Age). Scholars have noted it particularly interesting that this hunter-gatherer society should have developed pottery, since in the rest of the world pottery was quite typically developed for storage for grain & other agricultural products.<ref name=craig4>Craig, 4.</ref> Other developments at this time include advancements in trapping technology, and in bows & arrows, expanded use of seafood and marine products, increased size of settlements, and the limited beginnings of agricultural cultivation. Evidence from Jômon period sites, including pieces of bone and shell, traces of pollen, and other sorts of remains, indicate that Jômon peoples likely consumed a very diverse diet, including making use of multiple parts of a given plant or animal (e.g. not just the fruit, but also the flower, stem, and root); excavations at such sites have uncovered evidence of the consumption of more than sixty species of mammals including not only [[deer]] and [[boar]], but also [[monkey]] and ''[[tanuki]]'', as well as fifty-five types of plants, thirty-five species of birds, and more than 420 species of marine life. The bones of birds and sea mammals, as well as of other creatures, were often used to make tools.<ref name=nurturing75>Kobayashi, 75-76.</ref>