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{{History of Japan}}

The '''Jomon period''' ([[Japanese language|Japanese]]: 縄文時代 ''Jōmon-jidai'') is the time in [[History of Japan|Japanese history]] from about [[10th millennium BC|10,000 BC]] to [[300 BC]]. 

Most scholars agree that by around [[Paleolithic | 40,000 BC]] [[glaciation]] had connected the islands with the mainland. Based on archaeological evidence, between [[Paleolithic |35,000 BC]] and [[Paleolithic |30,000 BC]] ''Homo sapiens'' had migrated to the islands from eastern and southeastern Asia and had well-established patterns of hunting and gathering and stone toolmaking. Stone tools, inhabitation sites, and [[human fossil]]s from this period have been found throughout all the islands of Japan. Additionally, a 1988 [[gene|genetic]] study points to a Northern [[Mongoloid]] base for the [[Japanese people|Japanese]] peoples[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=3056831&dopt=Abstract].

The term "Jomon" is a translation into Japanese of the [[English language|English]] term "cord-marked." This refers to the markings made on clay vessels and figures using sticks with cords wrapped around them.

==Incipient and Initial Jomon (10000 - 4000 BC)==
[[Image:CalJomon.gif|thumb|80px|left|Characters for '''Jōmon''' ("Cord marks").]]
[[Image:JomonPottery.JPG|thumb|200px|Incipient Jomon pottery (10,000-8,000 BC), the earliest pottery type in the world, [[Tokyo National Museum]], [[Japan]].]]

More stable living patterns gave rise by around [[10th millennium BC |10,000 BC]] to a [[Mesolithic]] or, as some scholars argue, [[Neolithic]] culture. Possibly distant ancestors of the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] aboriginal people of modern Japan, members of the heterogeneous Jomon culture (c. 10,000-300 BC) left the clearest archaeological record. 

According to archeological evidence, the Jomon people created the earliest  [[pottery]] in the world, dated to the [[11th millennium BC]], as well as the earliest ground stone tools: "The earliest known pottery comes from Japan, and is dated to about 10,500 BC. China and Indo-China follow shortly afterwards" ("Past Worlds", The Times Atlas of Archeology). The antiquity of these potteries was first identified after the Second World War, through radiocarbon dating methods: "The earliest pottery, the linear applique type, was dated by radiocarbon methods taken on samples of carbonized material at 12500 +- 350 before present" (Prehistoric Japan, Keiji Imamura). The Jomon people were making clay figures and vessels decorated with patterns made by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks with a growing sophistication. 

The manufacture of pottery typically implies some form of sedentary life, since pottery is highly breakable and therefore is useless to [[hunter-gatherer]]s who are constantly on the move. Therefore the Jomon probably were some of the earliest sedentary or at least semi-sedentary people in the world. They used chipped stone tools, ground stone tools, traps, and bows and were probably semi-sedentary hunters-gatherers, and skillful coastal and deep-water fishermen. They practised a rudimentary form of [[agriculture]] and lived in caves and later in groups of either temporary shallow pit dwellings or above-ground houses, leaving rich kitchen middens for modern anthropological study. Because of this, the earliest forms of farming are sometimes attributed to Japan (Ingpen & Wilkinson) in 10,000 BC, two thousand years before their widespread appearance in the [[Middle East]].

==Early to Final Jomon (4000 - 400 BC)==
[[Image:MiddleJomonVessel.JPG|thumb|200px|left|A Middle Jomon vessel ([[3000 BC|3000]]-[[2000 BC]]) which called ''Kaen doki''（''火焔土器''） means flame formed vessel, [[Tokyo National Museum]], [[Japan]].]]
The Early and Middle Jomon periods saw an explosion in population, as indicated by the number of excavations from this period. These two periods correspond to the prehistoric [[thermal optimum]] (between 4000 and 2000 BC), when temperatures reached several degrees Celsius higher than the present, and the seas were higher by 5 to 6 meters. Beautiful artistic realizations, such as highly decorated flamed vessels, remain from that time. After 1500 BC, the [[climate]] cooled, and populations seem to have contracted dramatically. Comparatively few archeological sites can be found after 1500 BC.

[[Image:JomonStatue.JPG|thumb|180px|A Final Jomon statuette (also known as dogu) ([[1000 BC|1000]]-[[400 BC]]), [[Tokyo National Museum]], [[Japan]].]]

By the end of the Jomon period, a dramatic shift had taken place according to archaeological studies. Incipient cultivation had evolved into sophisticated [[Paddy field|rice-paddy]] farming and government control. Many other elements of Japanese culture also may date from this period and reflect a mingled migration from the northern Asian continent and the southern Pacific areas. Among these elements are [[Shinto]] mythology, marriage customs, architectural styles, and technological developments, such as lacquerware, textiles, metalworking, and glass making.

<!-- This section appears to be irrelevant to this Jomon period article, and as such is commented out.  It may be moved to another article later if deemed appropriate.  
==Foundation myths==
The origins of [[Japan]]ese civilization are buried in legend. [[February 11]], [[660 BC]] is the traditional founding date of Japan by [[Emperor Jimmu]]. This, however, is a version of Japanese history from the country's first written records dating from the [[6th century|6th]] to the [[8th century|8th centuries]].
According to the creation story found in the ''[[Kojiki]]'' (Record of Ancient Matters, dating from AD [[712]]) and the ''[[Nihongi]]'' or ''[[Nihon-shoki]]'' (Chronicle of Japan, from AD [[720]]), the Japanese islands were created by the gods, two of whom--the male [[Izanagi]] and the female [[Izanami]]--descended from heaven to carry out the task. They also brought into being other ''[[kami]]'' (deities or supernatural forces), such as those influencing the sea, rivers, wind, woods, and mountains. Two of these deities, the sun goddess [[Amaterasu Omikami]], and her brother, the storm god [[Susanoo]], warred against each other, with [[Amaterasu]] emerging victorious.

In this period several emperors were struggling for power. In order to make legitimate their claims to the throne, they commissioned collections of poems containing a mythological inheritance of power from Amaterasu (still the most venerable deity in the [[Shinto]] pantheon) via her grandson [[Ninigi-no-Mikoto]] to Emperor Jimmu, who was claimed to be an ancestor of the ruling imperial family. This propaganda-myth was taken up again by 19th century historians and used as a fundamental pillar of Japan's nationalistic [[Kokutai]] ideology.

More reliable are Chinese sources, which describe a country "Wa" ruled by various family-clans, adhering to their respective clan-deities. Recent anthropological studies suggest immigration from Siberia via Korea and/or Polynesia to be the ancestors of the earliest settlers in Japan.  
-->

== List of Jomon periods ==
[[Incipient Jomon]] ([[10000 BC|10000]] - [[7500 BC]]):<br>
*[[Linear applique]],
*[[Nail impression]],
*[[Cord impression]],
*[[Muroya]] lower.

[[Initial Jomon]] ([[7500 BC|7500]] - [[4000 BC]]):<br>
*[[Igusa]],
*[[Inaridai]],
*[[Mito (Jomon period)|Mito]],
*[[Lower Tado]],
*[[Upper Tado]],
*[[Shiboguchi]],
*[[Kayama]].

[[Early Jomon]] ([[4000 BC|4000]] - [[3000 BC]]):<br>
*[[Hanazumi]],
*[[Sekiyama]],
*[[Kurohama]],
*[[Moroiso (Jomon period)|Moroiso]] A,
*[[Moroiso (Jomon period)|Moroiso]] B,
*[[Juusanbodai]].

[[Middle Jomon]] ([[3000 BC|3000]] - [[2000 BC]]):<br>
*[[Katsusaka]]/[[Otamadai]],
*[[Kasori]] E1,
*[[Kasori]] E2.

[[Late Jomon]] ([[2000 BC|2000]] - [[1000 BC]]):<br>
*[[Horinouchi]],
*[[Kasori]] B1,
*[[Kasori]] B2,
*[[Angyo]] 1.

[[Final Jomon]] ([[1000 BC|1000]] - [[400 BC]]):<br>
*[[Angyo]] 2,
*[[Angyo]] 3.


'''See also''' [[Japanese era name]]

== References ==
{{commons|Category:Jomon}}
*{{loc}} - [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/jptoc.html Japan]
* Prehistoric Japan, by Keiji Imamura, University of Hawai Press, 1996, ISBN 0824818520
* Subsitence-Settlement systems in intersite variability in the Moroiso Phase of the Early Jomon Period of Japan, Junko Habu, 2001, ISBN 1879621320
* Encyclopedia of Ideas that changed the World, Robert Ingpen and Philip Wilkinson, 1993, ISBN 0670846422


==External link==
* [http://www.compulink.co.uk/~archaeology/world/stories/fareast/jomon/jomon.htm Jomon pottery] at [http://www.compulink.co.uk/~archaeology/world/home.htm Current World Archaeology]
* Jomon Japan at [http://www.jomonjapan.org jomonjapan.org]
* [http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/etext.html EMuseum] at Minnesota State University, Mankato [http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/japan/jomon/paleolithic_jomon.html The Paleolithic Period/Jomon Period]

* [http://www.jomonjapan.org/ *jomonjapan.org]


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