Changes

Some scholars argue that rice cultivation was first introduced by people from the Asian mainland who first traveled to the [[Yaeyama Islands]] from the Jiangnan region of China (i.e. south of the Yangtze River basin) around 500-300 BCE, and who then made their way, via the [[Kuroshio current]], to Kyushu.<ref>Kreiner, Josef. "Ryukyuan History in Comparative Perspective." in Kreiner (ed.) ''Ryukyu in World History''. Bonn: Biersche Verlagsanstalt, 2001. p2.</ref> Some sources point to earlier carbon dating evidence, and place the beginning of the Yayoi period several centuries earlier, possibly as early as c. 1000 BCE.<ref>Schirokauer et al., 8., [[Richard Pearson]], ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 13.</ref>

Some scholars argue that rice cultivation was first introduced by people from the Asian mainland who first traveled to the [[Yaeyama Islands]] from the Jiangnan region of China (i.e. south of the Yangtze River basin) around 500-300 BCE, and who then made their way, via the [[Kuroshio current]], to Kyushu.<ref>Kreiner, Josef. "Ryukyuan History in Comparative Perspective." in Kreiner (ed.) ''Ryukyu in World History''. Bonn: Biersche Verlagsanstalt, 2001. p2.</ref> Some sources point to earlier carbon dating evidence, and place the beginning of the Yayoi period several centuries earlier, possibly as early as c. 1000 BCE.<ref>Schirokauer et al., 8., [[Richard Pearson]], ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 13.</ref>

Technologies including intensive agriculture, ironworking, and bronze casting, along with new techniques for weaving and woodworking, appear earliest in [[Kyushu]], and are gradually seen to have spread north into the rest of the archipelago. Jômon culture persisted in [[Tohoku|Tôhoku]] and [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]] for centuries afterwards, while the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] similarly followed its own distinct path.<ref>See [[Periods of Okinawan History]].</ref> In most of Japan, people began to cultivate rice in wet rice paddies, as well as other grains including barley and millet; use of seafood and marine products, as well as fruits, nuts, and other forest products, expanded as well. [[Bronze mirrors]], symbols of wealth, power, and prestige held by local and regional elites, were largely imported in this period, becoming more widely produced within Japan only in the Kofun period.<ref>Gallery labels, "Mirrors," Japan Gallery, British Museum.</ref>

Technologies including intensive agriculture, ironworking, and bronze casting, along with new techniques for weaving and woodworking, appear earliest in [[Kyushu]], and are gradually seen to have spread north into the rest of the archipelago. Jômon culture persisted in [[Tohoku|Tôhoku]] and [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]] for centuries afterwards, while the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] similarly followed its own distinct path.<ref>See [[Periods of Okinawan History]].</ref> In most of Japan, people began to cultivate rice in wet rice paddies, as well as other grains including barley and millet; use of seafood and marine products, as well as fruits, nuts, and other forest products, expanded as well. [[Bronze mirrors]], symbols of wealth, power, and prestige held by local and regional elites, were largely imported in this period, becoming more widely produced within Japan only in the Kofun period.<ref>Gallery labels, "Mirrors," Japan Gallery, British Museum.</ref> Bronze bells known as ''[[Dotaku|dôtaku]]'' are another iconic product of the period. Produced within Japan using clay or stone molds and metals imported from the continent. Though bell-shaped, many scholars have expressed skepticism that they were designed to actually ring; rather, ''dôtaku'' are believed to have served some kind of ritual purpose. As many ''dôtaku'' have been found on the edges of fertile cultivable land, some scholars have suggested they may have been intentionally buried in such locations as a ritual means of encouraging agricultural production.<ref>"Two bronze bells (dôtaku)," gallery labels, British Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/20266979364/in/photostream/]</ref>

Yayoi period settlements were generally comprised of pit dwellings with thatched roofs, gathered together in groups of roughly five homes organized around elevated storehouses. Villages of three, four, or five such groups (thus, approx. 15-25 homes) were surrounded by dry moats, earthenworks and fences, defending the village against outsiders.<ref>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15925222368/in/dateposted-public/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/16086859646/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> These settlements were larger than in earlier periods, and more complex, and physical, violent conflict between communities seems to have increased dramatically. Some communities began to construct walls, stockades, and watchtowers, and to locate their homes in strategically defensible positions; remains with evidence of violent injury by axe, arrow, or the like have also been found. There is also evidence of the emergence of class divisions within communities, as leaders or elites began to receive more elaborate burials, and were buried alongside larger groups of grave goods. By the end of the Yayoi period, relatively distinct polities emerged, with local chieftains, or "kings," some of which traded with, or otherwise were in contact with, polities on the Korean Peninsula and the Chinese mainland; some appear in ancient Chinese records, which made reference to the Kingdom of [[Na]], the Kings of [[Wa]], etc. One community particularly prominent in these records is called [[Yamatai]], and is said to have been ruled by a queen named [[Himiko]] (or Pimiko); debate continues as to whether this powerful political center was located in Kyushu, in the [[Kinai]], or elsewhere.

Yayoi period settlements were generally comprised of pit dwellings with thatched roofs, gathered together in groups of roughly five homes organized around elevated storehouses. Villages of three, four, or five such groups (thus, approx. 15-25 homes) were surrounded by dry moats, earthenworks and fences, defending the village against outsiders.<ref>Gallery labels, National Museum of Japanese History.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15925222368/in/dateposted-public/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/16086859646/in/dateposted-public/]</ref> These settlements were larger than in earlier periods, and more complex, and physical, violent conflict between communities seems to have increased dramatically. Some communities began to construct walls, stockades, and watchtowers, and to locate their homes in strategically defensible positions; remains with evidence of violent injury by axe, arrow, or the like have also been found. There is also evidence of the emergence of class divisions within communities, as leaders or elites began to receive more elaborate burials, and were buried alongside larger groups of grave goods. By the end of the Yayoi period, relatively distinct polities emerged, with local chieftains, or "kings," some of which traded with, or otherwise were in contact with, polities on the Korean Peninsula and the Chinese mainland; some appear in ancient Chinese records, which made reference to the Kingdom of [[Na]], the Kings of [[Wa]], etc. One community particularly prominent in these records is called [[Yamatai]], and is said to have been ruled by a queen named [[Himiko]] (or Pimiko); debate continues as to whether this powerful political center was located in Kyushu, in the [[Kinai]], or elsewhere.