The Jomon period
Introduction
Jomon people were hunter-gatherers, relying on hunting animals and fishing, and also early agriculturalists. Later they developed a more sedentary lifestyle settling into villages with population around 500 people. Agricultural revolution fully came with the introduction of rice farming near the end of the period.
Incipient Jomon (14 000 - 8 000 BCE)
The earliest Incipient Jomon phase began while Japan was still linked to continental Asia. As the glaciers melted, following the end of the last glacial period, sea levels rose, separating Japan from the rest of Asia. Within the archipelago, the vegetation was transformed by the end of the Ice Age.
Biggest food sources were salmon, shellfish, Sika deer, wild boar and seafood. The population was concentrated in Honshu and Kyushu.
Early Jomon (5 000 - 3 520 BCE)
Early Jomon sites suggest a pattern of increased stabilization of communities, formation of small settlements, and explosion in population. This period occurred during the Holocene climatic optimum, when the local climate became warmer and more humid.
There is evidence to suggest that arboriculture was practiced in the form of tending groves of lacquer and nut producing trees, as well as soybean, bottle gourd, hemp, Perilla, adzuki (red beans), among others. An apparently domesticated variety of peach appeared very early at Jomon sites. This type of peach was seemingly brought into Japan from China.
Middle Jomon (3 520 - 2 470 BCE)
This period saw a rise in complexity in the design of pit-houses, the most commonly used method of housing at the time, with some even having paved stone floors.
Vessels began to take on heavy decorative schemes employing applied clay. The use of vessels for purposes beyond cooking and storage is also noted. Clay lamps, drum shells, and figurines strongly suggest an expanding use of the medium for religious symbolic expression.
By the end of this period the warm climate starts to enter a cooling trend.
Late and Final Jomon (2 470 - 500 BCE)
The cooling trend continues during the Late and Final Jomon period. Population decreases dramatically. Comparatively few archaeological sites can be found after 1 500 BCE.
Steadily increasing contact with the Korean Peninsula eventually led to the establishment of Korean-type settlements in western Kyushu, beginning around 900 BCE. The settlers brought new technologies such as wet rice farming and bronze and iron metallurgy, as well as new pottery styles.
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