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Jomon, meaning "patterns of plaited cord", is an era in Japan from
about 10,000 BC to 300 BC. The term is derived from the clay figures with
cord and sticks made by people in that time.
On the basis of archaeological finds, it has been postulated that
hominid activity in Japan may date as early as 200,000 BC, when the islands
were connected to the Asian mainland. Although some scholars doubt this
early date for habitation, most agree that by around 40,000 BC. glaciation
had reconnected the islands with the mainland. Based on archaeological
evidence, they also agree that by between 35,000 BC and 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 fossils from this period have
been found throughout all the islands of Japan.
More stable living patterns gave rise by around 10,000 BC. to a
Neolithic or, as some scholars argue, Mesolithic culture. Possibly distant
ancestors of the Ainu aboriginal people of modern Japan, members of the
heterogeneous Jomon culture (ca. 10,000-300 B.C.) left the clearest
archaeological record. By 3,000 BC, 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.
These people also used chipped stone tools, traps, and bows and were
hunters, gatherers, and skillful coastal and deep-water fishermen. They
practiced 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. By the late Jomon period, a dramatic shift had taken place according to
archaeological studies. Incipient cultivation had evolved into sophisticated
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 lacquer ware, textiles, metalworking,
and glass making.
The literature of Shinto (Way of the Gods) employs much mythology to
describe the supposed historical origins of Japan. According to the creation
story found in the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters, dating from A.D. 712)
and the Nihongi or Nihon-shoki (Chronicle of Japan, from A.D. 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,
Susanowo, warred against each other, with Amaterasu emerging victorious.
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