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Focusing on the ancient Jomon pottery of Japan, this book offers a comprehensive and illustrated overview of this early Japanese art, and its relation to the ancient pottery of other countries
A fully-illustrated introduction to the archaeology of the Jomon period in Japan, this book explores the complex relationships between Jomon people and their rich natural environment. From the end of the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago to the appearance of rice agriculture around 400 BC, Jomon people subsisted by hunting, fishing and gathering; but abundant and predictable sources of wild food enabled Jomon people to live in large, relatively permanent settlements, and to develop an elaborate material culture. In this book Kobayashi and Kaner explore thematic issues in Jomon archaeology: the appearance of sedentism in the Japanese archipelago and the nature of Jomon settlements; the invention of pottery and the development and meaning of regional pottery styles; social and spiritual life; as well as the astronomical significance of causeway monuments and the conceptualisation of landscape in the Jomon period. These ideas are considered in the light of current work in the European Mesolithic and Neolithic, setting Jomon archaeology within a global context. The book draws extensively on new archaeological information from various parts of Japan, including the sites of Sannai Maruyama, Isedotai, Komankino among others. Extensive colour illustrations provide a vivid demonstration of Jomon ideology and creativity. Tatsuo Kobayashi is Professor of Archaeology at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo and Director of the Niigata Prefectural Museum of History. Simon Kraner is Assistant Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.
An illustrated introduction to the prehistory of Japan, treated in its own right and not as a minor part of East Asia in general.
Recounting his two-year, 3,000-mile kayak voyage from Japan's bamboo forests to the tundra of Siberia and Alaska, Turk--in the thrilling tradition of "Kon Tiki"--introduces strong archeological and anthropological evidence that his expedition was not the first.
An original, substantial contribution to interpretive archaeology (the first of its kind for Japan and East Asia), An Archaeological History of Japan addresses a broad range of issues concerning the self-identification of groups and the use of the past in contemporary society.
The existing literature on Japanese prehistory is mostly focussed on describing material culture; this new study surveys the early artifacts and shows that they were either neglected in previous studies or reported of by unfounded and fantastic speculation. The author identifies prehistoric ideas concerning hunting and fishing, the cult of the dead, and the after-life. The cosmological implications of burial topography and stone-circles are as well examined as older written texts from other parts of the world aiding in elucidating the symbols recognized on these remains. This helps to link the Jo-mon materials to other remains of similar or older age from the ancient Near East, China, the Pacific, and ancient America and proves that prehistoric Japan was never really isolated from the rest of the world. Although the method developed in this study, which rejects speculation and bases itself entirely on archaeological remains, permits only the elucidation of a part of the rich spiritual culture of prehistoric Japan; it reveals an abundance of new information concerning the most important religious ideas of mankind: the constant renewal of life, and the belief that death is not the ultimate end.
Born from the earliest dated tradition of pottery manufacture in the world, dogū abstract clay figurines with recognisably human features are a link back to the lost worlds of the remarkable Jomon period (c. 10,000500 BC). They have been excavated in large quantities from sites throughout the country. Many were deliberately broken before burial which has raised intriguing questions about their possible uses. This catalogue will illustrate 70 dogū, the most important of which have been designated as either National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties. In addition to the descriptions of the pieces themselves, the book will include chapters written by experts in the field exploring the wider East Asian setting and the significance of this context in understanding Japanese prehistory.
This iconoclastic work on the prehistory of Japan and of South East Asia challenges entrenched views on the origins of Japanese society and identity. The social changes that took place in Japan in the time-period when the Jomon culture was replaced by the Yayoi culture were of exceptional magnitude, going far beyond those of the so-called Neolithic Revolution in other parts of the world. They included not only a new way of life based on wet-rice agriculture but also the introduction of metalworking in both bronze and iron, and furthermore a new architecture functionally and ritually linked to rice cultivation, a new religion, and a hierarchical society characterized by a belief in the divinity of the ruler. Because of its immense and enduring impact the Yayoi period has generally been seen as the very foundation of Japanese civilization and identity. In contrast to the common assumption that all the Yayoi innovations came from China and Korea, this work combines exciting new scientific evidence from such different fields as rice genetics, DNA and historical linguistics to show that the major elements of Yayoi civilization actually came, not from the north, but from the south.