Changes

* Japanese: 縄文時代 ''(Joumon Jidai)''

* Japanese: 縄文時代 ''(Joumon Jidai)''

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.</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. 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>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 4.</ref>

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.</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, 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 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). 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>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 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.<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. 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.

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. Though it is extremely difficult to estimate the size of the population, some scholars have suggested a population of 200,000 across the archipelago, concentrated chiefly in the Kantô plain.<ref name=craig4/> 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.