Ancient Jomon of Japan

An overview of the Jomon period in Japan (circa14,500-300 BC) within the context of recent complex hunter-gatherer studies.

In this 2004 book, Junko Habu illustrates recent developments in the archaeology of the Jomon period (circa 14,500–300 BC) of Japan and presents new analyses. Unlike most prehistoric pottery using peoples, the Jomon people are thought to have been hunter-gatherers. Evidence of plant cultivation does exist, but none of the cultigens recovered from Jomon sites seems to have been used as a staple food resource. High site density, food storage, and long distance trade also characterize this Jomon period. Using ecological models of hunter-gatherer culture and behavior, Habu examines various aspects of Jamon culture including subsistence, settlement, rituals, crafts and trade, and presents a model of long-term change in hunter-gatherer cultural complexity. In this comprehensive analysis, Junko Habu helps to bridge the gap between largely Japanese discourse on this 10,000 year period of Japanese prehistory and the modern scientific debate on later hunter-gatherer societies. It will prove invaluable to students and researchers alike.

Part I. Overview: 1. Introduction; 2. Background to the study: overview of the Jomon Period; Part II. Subsistence and Settlement: 3. Subsistence strategies; 4. Settlement archaeology; Part III. Rituals, Crafts and Trade: 5. Mortuary and ceremonial practices; 6. Crafts and exchange networks; Part IV. Discussion and Conclusion: 7. Discussion and conclusion.

This important but accessible 2004 text presents an overview of the archaeology of the Jomon period of Japan (circa 14,500-300 BC), and aims to bridge the gap between academic traditions in Japanese and Anglo-American archaeology. It represents an invaluable source of reflection on the development of complexity in human history.

Junko Habu is Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley. She has conducted fieldwork both in Japan and in North America. Her publications include Subsistence-Settlement Systems and Intersite Variability in the Moroiso Phase of the Early Jomon Period of Japan, International Monographs in Prehistory (2001).