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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 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). 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.<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 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). 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.<ref name=nurturing75>Kobayashi, 75-76.</ref>

Culture, lifestyles, technology, and societal organization were not uniform across the archipelago, nor across the Jômon period, however. While some of the largest and most numerous settlements have been found in central and northern Honshû, sites associated with the Jômon culture appear throughout the archipelago, from Hokkaidô to the Ryukyus. Archaeologist [[Richard Pearson]] describes the period as a "large loosely integrated cultural complex."<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Japan'', Sackler Gallery (1992), 62.</ref> Along the coasts, salmon and shellfish, along with freshwater fish, were a major part of the diet, along with venison, tubers, and other plants; in other parts, edible nuts and other forest foods, both plant and animal, were prominent. Tools were still made chiefly of wood and stone, but now included a wider range of objects, including canoes, a variety of fishing nets and hooks, shovels, and pit traps; many communities also made use of domesticated dogs.

Culture, lifestyles, technology, and societal organization were not uniform across the archipelago, nor across the Jômon period, however. While some of the largest and most numerous settlements have been found in central and northern Honshû, sites associated with the Jômon culture appear throughout the archipelago, from Hokkaidô to the Ryukyus. Archaeologist [[Richard Pearson]] describes the period as a "large loosely integrated cultural complex."<ref>Richard Pearson, ''Ancient Japan'', Sackler Gallery (1992), 62.</ref> Along the coasts, salmon and shellfish, along with freshwater fish, were a major part of the diet, along with venison, tubers, and other plants; in other parts, edible nuts and other forest foods, both plant and animal, were prominent. Tools were still made chiefly of wood and stone, but now included a wider range of objects, including canoes, a variety of fishing nets and hooks, shovels, and pit traps; many communities also made use of domesticated dogs. Technologies such as the use of [[lacquer]], the fermentation/brewing of wines, and the baking of cookies<ref>Kobayashi, 89.</ref> or the like, possibly with yeast, were also known as early as the Jômon period.

By around 7000 BCE, people were first living in underground, or above-ground, dwellings, while by around 5000 BCE, settlements grew more set and permanent, and larger, with many people living in pit dwellings made of wood, thatch, and/or earth. Preservation techniques including the smoking and salting of foods, combined with the advent of pottery for storage, were crucial to the emergence of larger and more permanent settlements. Large communal storehouses came to be constructed at, or as, the centers of villages.  

By around 7000 BCE, people were first living in underground, or above-ground, dwellings, while by around 5000 BCE, settlements grew more set and permanent, and larger, with many people living in pit dwellings made of wood, thatch, and/or earth. Preservation techniques including the smoking and salting of foods, combined with the advent of pottery for storage, were crucial to the emergence of larger and more permanent settlements. Large communal storehouses came to be constructed at, or as, the centers of villages.  

The end of the Jômon is marked by the introduction of [[rice cultivation]], quite possibly by a different people coming into the archipelago from outside, settling there, and taking over (or intermarrying into the Jômon population), establishing a new mode of society. This new period is called the [[Yayoi period]].

The end of the Jômon is marked by the introduction of [[wet rice cultivation]], quite possibly by a different people coming into the archipelago from outside, settling there, and taking over (or intermarrying into the Jômon population), establishing a new mode of society. This new period is called the [[Yayoi period]].

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