Jomon Reflections: Forager Life and Culture in the Prehistoric Japanese ArchipelagoA 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. |
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Akita Prefecture Aomori Prefecture appearance artefacts beads Board of Education bones burial Cave chestnut Chiba Prefecture City Board clay figurines cord-marked Daigi decorated Early Jomon Echigo example Excavation Report Figure Final Jomon Flame pots Fukui groups Habu hearths Height Hokkaido hunter-gatherers hunting Incipient Initial Jomon jade Japan Japanese archaeology Japanese archipelago Jomon archaeology Jomon culture Jomon figurines Jomon Japan Jomon period Jomon pots Jomon pottery Jomon settlement Jomon sites Jomon world Kakoinohara Kamegaoka Kanto Kobayashi Kyushu Late Jomon Middle Jomon motifs Nagano Prefecture Niigata Prefecture nuclear zones nuts Palaeolithic particular patterns perhaps pit buildings pit dwellings pottery styles pottery vessels Prefectural Archaeology Centre Prefectural Board prehistoric recognised region ritual Sannai Maruyama secondary tools shell midden social stone circles stone tools structure style zones suggests Tama New Town Tochigi Prefecture Tokyo Toyama Prefecture types ware Yamagata Prefecture Yamanashi Prefecture Yamanouchi Yayoi