Episode 7: Rice comes to Japan

rice.jpg

Seven episodes in and we finally have conclusive proof of rice in Japan. This episode we take a look at the start of the Yayoi period, when rice came to Japan and brought with it the start of a new culture, the Yayoi culture.

This episode largely deals with the start of the Yayoi and much of the material culture that they brought with them, merging continental and insular styles. This includes not only the distinctive pottery, but also their architecture and even settlement styles. This would all merge and eventually become its own thing.

Episode 6: Emperor Horse Crupper and Other Continental Developments

Welcome back! As we come out of the general turkey-and-stuffing-induced comas here in the US, we’ll be taking a break from the Japanese archipelago this episode and looking out across the water at what has been going on over on the mainland. We are especially going to be looking at the Yellow River Basin through to the Korean Peninsula. See the maps here for more context on the geographic settings in this particular episode.

Modern saddle crupper showing the position on the horse… well, I suspect you get the idea. Original image from Wikimedia Commons by Una Smith [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

By the way, on the “Emperor Horse Crupper”, I should note that some English texts refer to him as “King”. This is probably a more accurate translation, though the term “Emperor” does show up in the dynastic names of this time. By some accounts “Emperor” really doesn’t apply until the Qin dynasty. There are similar arguments about the Japanese imperial line when we get there. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering what a “horse crupper” refers to (besides the name of the emperor), here is a helpful illustration, on the left. For those wondering, the character is 紂.

Finally, some examples of various bronzes and other artifacts from the continent between the Shang and Zhou Dynasty periods, including artifacts from the Korean bronze age.

References

2018 Li, Dora (trans.); “Two Ancient Chinese Stories:  King Wen and King Wu”, Excerpt from Treasured Tales of China, trans. By Dora Li, https://www.theepochtimes.com/two-ancient-chinese-stories-king-wen-and-king-wu_2601618.html

2017 Barnes, Gina; Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan. Oxbow Books.

2015 Kim, Bumcheol; “Socioeconomic Development in the Bronze Age: Archaeological Understanding of the Transition from the Early to Middle Bronze Age, South Korea” https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/55550/07_AP_54.1kim.pdf

2010 Ahn, Sung-Mo; “The emergence of rice agriculture in Korea: archaeobotanical perspectives” https://www.academia.edu/26244202/The_emergence_of_rice_agriculture_in_Korea_archaeobotanical_perspectives

2007 RHEE, S., AIKENS, C., CHOI, S., & RO, H. “Korean Contributions to Agriculture, Technology, and State Formation in Japan: Archaeology and History of an Epochal Thousand Years, 400 B.C.–A.D. 600”. Asian Perspectives, 46(2), 404-459. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42928724

2004 Kim, Seong-hwan, ed.; Atlas of Korean History. History Education Department, Korean National University of Education; and Skyejul Publishing, Ltd.

2000 Theobald, Ulrich; China Knowledge.de – An Encyclopedia on Chinese History, Literature, and Art; http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/personszhouwenwang.html

1989 Fairbank-Reischauer; China: Tradition and Transformation (Revised Edition).

Episode 5: Goggle Eyes and Wet Earwax

Reproduction of shakoki style figurine found at Kamegaoka.

This episode will be our final look at the Jomon Period in Japan.  Specifically we are focusing on the northern Jomon, in Tohoku and Hokkaido.  We'll take a brief overview of this northern area throughout the Jomon period, and then focus on the transition from the Middle to Late and Final Jomon periods.

As for the title, see our lovely friend right here—a shakoki, or goggle-style, figurine. Doesn’t she look like some kind of buff, angry alien? This one is a reconstruction of the original, which is actually missing its left leg—broken off in an apparent ritual. Below are some other examples of figurines from northern Japan, along with lacquerware and more.

We also included something we didn’t talk about in the podcast—clay masks, which we also find throughout the archipelago in various shapes and some not even made out of pottery.

And speaking of rituals, here is an article in Atlas Obscura about the Oyu Stone Circles.

We also have a treat this episode--we are getting our best glimpse yet of the people through the DNA of one of the women from Funadomari.  We'll take a look at what we know about her, including what is up with the whole "wet earwax" thing.

BTW, for those who want to better understand the whole “wet earwax” thing, here’s an article on the subject by Dr. John McDonald.

If you enjoy this episode, please feel free to reach out and Tweet or email us, or drop comments in the Comment section, below this post. 

References

  • 2019 Geggel, Laura “Freckled Woman with High Alcohol Tolerance Lived in Japan 3,800 years ago” (https://www.livescience.com/65536-ancient-japanese-woman-genetics.html), Live Science, 22 May 2019

  • 2019 Kanazawa-Kiriyama, Hideaki, et al; “Late Jomon male and female genome sequences from the Funadomari site in Hokkaido, Japan.”  Anthropological Science, 15 April 2019 (https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ase/advpub/0/advpub_190415/_pdf/-char/en)

  • 2011 McDonald, J.H., Myths of Human Genetics. Sparky House Publishing, Baltimore, Maryland. https://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mythearwax.html

  • 2003 (June) Togawa, Minako; “The Jomon Clay Figurines of the Kaminabe Site, Kyushu, Japan”

  • 2002 Mizoguchi, Koji; An Archaeological History of Japan: 30,000 B.C. to A.D. 700

  • 2000 Naumann, Nelly; Japanese Prehistory: The Material and Spritual Culture of the Jōmon Period

  • 1988 Barnes, Gina L.; Protohistoric Yamato: Archaeology of the First Japanese State

  • 1996 Aikins, C. Melvin and Akazawa, Takeru, “The Pleistocene-Holocene Transition in Japan and Adjacent Northeast Asia.” In: Straus L.g., Erksen B.V., Erlandson J.M., Yesner D.R. (eds) Humans at the End of the Ice Age: Interdiciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, pp 215-227, Spring, Boston, MA

  • 1996 Imamura, Keiji; Prehistoric Japan: New Perspectives on Insular East Asia

Episode 4: Jomon vs. the Volcano

Map by:Yug Changed by:Pekachu [CC BY-SA 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons
Extent of the Kikai Akahoya eruption ash deposits about 7300 years ago.

In this episode we take a look at the Jomon period down in southwest Japan. Although Kyushu appears to have been the birthplace of much of what we consider Jomon culture, the Akahoya Eruption of the Kikai Caldera devastated Kyushu, wiping out the earliest cultures. Life would eventually return, bringing with it cultural artifacts from Honshu.

The Kyushu Jomon culture would move through several different types of settlement patterns and evolve over time, possibly even learning some form of rudimentary agriculture. We’ll talk about the possible connection between the enigmatic figurines and early agriculture.

Towards the end of the Jomon period, we see a new player on the scene: a new culture that we call the Yayoi, from the place in Tokyo where the first pottery from this period is found. This culture, influenced by the mainland, would compete with and eventually overcome or absorb the local Jomon culture, spreading north across Honshu.

By 名古屋太郎 [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons.

Iojima island, part of the Kikai Caldera

References

  • 2013 Pearson, Richard; Ancient Ryukyu. University of Hawai’i Press.

  • 2007 Kaner, Simon and Ishikawa, Takeshi, “Reassessing the concept of the ‘Neolithic’in the Jomon of Western Japan”, Documenta Praehistorica XXXIV (2007) https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/DocumentaPraehistorica/article/view/34.1/1809

  • 2006 Shinto, Koichi; “Jomon Culture in Kagoshima and Uenohara Site”, Archaeological Center of Kagoshima Prefecture, Kokubu, Kirishima, 899-4461 Japan

  • 2003 (June) Togawa, Minako; “The Jomon Clay Figurines of the Kaminabe Site, Kyushu, Japan”

  • 2002 Mizoguchi, Koji; An Archaeological History of Japan: 30,000 B.C. to A.D. 700

  • 1996 Imamura, Keiji; Prehistoric Japan: New Perspectives on Insular East Asia

  • 1996 Aikins, C. Melvin and Akazawa, Takeru, “The Pleistocene-Holocene Transition in Japan and Adjacent Northeast Asia.” In: Straus L.g., Erksen B.V., Erlandson J.M., Yesner D.R. (eds) Humans at the End of the Ice Age: Interdiciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, pp 215-227, Spring, Boston, MA

Episode 3: Boom and Bust in the Middle Jomon

Welcome to Episode 3, and part 2 of our series on the Jomon era. In this episode we discuss the boom and bust of the Jomon period, when the Jomon population hit its highest point, especially in the Kanto plain and Chubu highlands. This was the area of the Katsusaka and Otamadai cultures. We’ll discuss the evidence for what we see and what might have happened. Below, find photos taken at the National Museum of Japanese History, with actual and replica pots and figurines. You can see the type of decoration that gave this period its name and some of the wild artistic flourishes that became popular during this period. Also check out the lacquered pots, indicating that it was more than just cord impressions. Finally, the figurines give you a sample of some of the variety found.

Read more