JÅmon period
The Jōmon period ( Jap.縄 文 时代, Jōmon jidai ) or Jōmon culture (縄 文 文化, Jōmon bunka ) denotes a 10000-300 BC transitional phase in the history of Japan. The name goes back to the zoologist Edward Sylvester Morse, who examined 1877 Køkkenmøddinger in Omori in Japan. He described the pattern on the ceramic of the Køkkenmøddinger as "cord marks" and therefore similar to the German concept of Corded Ware. Finds of pottery gave the period its name. Jōmon (縄 文) in Japanese means string pattern. The peculiarity of these ceramics is their extremely creative design. With different thickness strings grooves were pressed into the red clay, so that certain patterns emerged. Were typical flame-like spiral pattern. The ceramic is fired as compared to Yayoi period at relatively low temperatures.
Overview
In the Jomon period, people fed by hunting and gathering. The climate was mild and warm, and it grew a luxuriant vegetation on the Japanese islands. The diet consisted mainly of fish and shellfish, deer and wild boar were hunted in groups. These plants and fruits were collected. The pots were believed to be the storage of fruit and the transport of water.
From about 5000 BC, were always larger villages with up to 30 residents. Pits with bamboo roofs served as accommodation. At the reference Sannai Maruyama in Aomori such a prehistoric settlement has been reconstructed as outdoor museum complex.
Through a worsening climate many village associations were forced to leave the high mountains and to move to the vicinity of rivers and the sea. At this time, developed the first form of agriculture. The advent of settled life can be seen as a result of this achievement, and also evidence of an ordered society structure.
Religion
Is about the worship of deities during the Jōmon period little known, as no written records and there is no pictorial representations. There were worshiped mountains and trees. Specific places such as waterfalls, rock cliffs or large trees served as ritual places for the exercise of God's worship. In addition to these gods, there were spiritual, who were in contact with the ancestors. Through them, the communication is established and maintained with the deceased.
In the late phase of the Jōmon period incurred impressive monuments that indicate astonishing mathematical and astronomical knowledge. When it is believed to be a calendar. The result was about a tower that is oriented so that the columns mark the position of the sun at the summer solstice. The shadows of the post to run on this day exactly diagonal to the base of the tower.
From the Jōmon period also clay statues called " Dogu " are obtained whose purpose is unknown.
Classification
On the Jōmon culture was followed by the Yayoi culture, which is characterized by a new, entirely different from the Jōmon culture pottery.