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Japan, Middle Jomon period Storage Jar About 3000-2000 B.C. Earthenware with modeled and impressed decor 22 inches wide, 21-1/4 inches high The Ethel Morrison Van Derlip Fund 82.9.1 |
This
prehistoric EARTHENWARE
pot is an example of some of the oldest pottery found in the world. It
probably comes from central Japan, near Tokyo. The storage jar was made
during the middle years of the Jomon period, a culture that lasted from
10,500 to 300 B.C.1 The Jomon culture
was not only long-lived, but also widespread; evidence of its existence
has been found at over 75,000 sites. It was the first Japanese culture
to produce ceramic wares, and these were made in many different forms
and styles. Although determining precisely when the earliest Jomon vessels
were made is difficult, RADIOCARBON
DATING has identified pieces from as early as 10,500 B.C.2
The Middle Jomon people migrated from the coast to the central forested highlands as a result of a global warming trend that melted the Ice Age glaciers and separated Japan from the mainland. They survived by hunting, gathering, and fishing and used simple tools of wood, bone, horn, or stone. Their production of low-fired earthenware indicates a change from NOMADIC to more settled societies. Large villages consisted of pit houses with central heating and cooking areas that emphasized the importance of family unity. The people stored and processed the foodstuffs they gathered, and perhaps even cultivated some of their own crops. The large number of vessels that have been excavated from dwellings throughout Japan suggests the people enjoyed economic stability and enough leisure time to develop crafts that incorporated a sense of beauty.3
Notes
1. Jomon is a modern name introduced by the 19th-century scholar Edward S. Morse.
2. Penelope Mason, History of Japanese Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1993), p. 13.
3. Mason, History of Japanese Art, p. 16.
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