Jomon Period

Pottery, which began to be used in the Jomon period, was mainly used for cooking.
It’s thought to have been used as a container for crushing nuts, and for boiling or grilling fish and nuts.
Hunting tools remained similar to those of the Paleolithic period, using stone, animal bones, and antlers.
However, unlike Paleolithic stone tools, Jomon hunting tools often had sharper tips to increase lethality.
Many other stone tools were also made for specific purposes.
Examples include stone spoons (small portable knives with handles), stone sinkers (weights with grooves used for fishing), and grinding stones for turning acorns and other nuts into flour—showing that tool types increased compared to the Paleolithic period.
Fishing with nets in rivers and lakes also began in the Jomon period.
Compared with the Paleolithic period, this was an era of greater variety in materials, tool types, and how they were used.

In the Jomon period, more stable access to food led people to settle down.
With less need to move, home structures also changed from the Paleolithic period.
The typical Jomon home was the semi-subterranean “pit dwelling,” made by digging a hollow in the ground, setting posts, and adding a roof.
Inside, the floor was packed with hardened clay, and a stone-lined hearth sat at the center for cooking and heating.
They were large enough for about 6 to 12 tatami mats, and likely housed around four family members per dwelling.
As more pit dwellings were built in areas rich in food resources, villages began to form.

When you imagine meals around Approx. 15,000 years ago, you might picture half-naked men tearing into meat on the bone.
But with pottery, the Jomon period made cooking methods like grilling, boiling, steaming, drying, and parboiling possible, so people likely ate a wide range of foods such as smoked and salted dishes, bread, and porridge.
Staple foods included nuts like chestnuts and walnuts.
Bitter nuts were leached to remove tannins, ground into flour, and eaten as porridge or dumplings.
As fishing began in rivers and lakes, people frequently ate fish like salmon and trout, as well as shellfish. One hallmark of the Jomon period is the formation of shell middens (“kaizuka”), where shells were discarded.
Hunting deer and wild boar continued, and people kept eating animal meat.
Teeth and antlers were also put to use, crafted into items like fishhooks and pendants.

Dogu, unglazed clay figurines made in the Jomon period, are among the era’s most iconic artifacts.
There are many theories: some say they represent women or pregnant women, while others suggest they are humanized forms of plants. No single view has been agreed upon.
The most common theory is that they were clay figures shaped like women or pregnant women, made to pray for nature’s abundant gifts.
Whatever the case, it’s clear these weren’t tools for hunting or gathering, but figurines with cultural meaning.

People in the Jomon period seem to have worn accessories.
Materials included animal bones, teeth, antlers, shells, jade, wood, and clay.
Magatama, curved jade beads with a drilled hole, are thought to have been worn as protective charms with ritual significance.

Among Jomon pottery, flame-style vessels are especially distinctive in shape.
They resemble rising flames and have large protrusions at four points along the upper rim.
Because some excavated examples show scorch marks, they’re believed to have been used for cooking.
However, their unusual form has also led to the theory that they were sometimes used for ritual purposes.

Kasori Shell Mounds is an archaeological site featuring a Jomon shell midden and settlement remains.
At Kasori Shell Mounds, you can visit a museum showcasing excavated artifacts such as pottery, stone tools, and dogu, plus outdoor viewing areas for pit dwelling remains and shell-layer cross sections, as well as a reconstructed pit-dwelling village—bringing Jomon culture to life.

Sendai City Jomon no Mori Square was created to preserve and utilize the Jomon settlement remains discovered at the Yamada Uenodai Site.
Inside the facility, pottery and stone tools excavated from the Yamada Uenodai Site are on display.
Hands-on programs are especially popular, including magatama-making, Jomon pottery-making, and fire-starting experiences—great ways to learn Jomon skills in action.

Nagaoka City in Niigata Prefecture, home to this museum, is known as the birthplace of Jomon flame-style pottery.
The wall-to-wall display of Jomon pottery, including flame-style vessels, is truly spectacular.
Realistic dioramas recreating Jomon life through the four seasons are so lifelike, you may feel as if the Jomon people are living right there.