Japan, the Jōmon to the Kofun

The oldest pottery in the world, a ten-thousand-year culture without agriculture, and an early record that reaches us almost entirely from China and from the ground.

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Japan

JOMON YAYOI KOFUN AND AFTER 1200 BC 800 BC 400 BC AD 1 AD 400 ← the Jomon runs back to c. 14,000 BC FROM THE GROUND FROM THE RECORDS c. 14,000 BC — JOMON POTTERY. Cord-marked pottery from the Japanese islands is among the oldest ceramic vessels found anywhere, with some sherds dated beyond 14,000 BC. Made by hunter-gatherers, not farmers — which inverts the usual sequence in which pottery follows agriculture.1 c. 3000 BC — The Jomon at its height. Settled villages, lacquerware, and the dogu clay figures. A sedentary culture without agriculture, sustained on marine and forest resources for some ten thousand years.2 c. 900 BC — The Yayoi transition begins. Wet-rice paddy farming arrives from the Korean peninsula, with bronze, iron and the loom. The dating has been pushed back several centuries by radiocarbon work and is disputed. Population rises sharply.3 c. 300 BC — Bronze bells and the new order. Dotaku bronze bells, weapons and mirrors, most cast locally from continental models. Moated settlements appear, and with them the first evidence of organised warfare in the islands.4 c. AD 250 — The Kofun tombs. Vast keyhole-shaped burial mounds begin. The largest is longer than the base of the Great Pyramid. The imperial tombs are administered by the Household Agency and have not been opened to archaeologists.9 AD 57 — THE GOLD SEAL OF NA. The Hou Hanshu records that the king of Na in Wa sent envoys to the Han court and was given a gold seal. A gold seal was ploughed up on Shikanoshima island in 1784, inscribed with characters read as king of Na of Wa of Han. The object and the text agree.5 AD 107 — Suishō sends slaves. The Hou Hanshu records a king of Wa presenting 160 people to the Han emperor. The earliest named ruler in Japanese history is named in a Chinese book.6 c. AD 180 — The disorder in Wa. Chinese records describe years of warfare among the states of Wa, ended when the people agree to set a woman on the throne.7 AD 238 — HIMIKO, QUEEN OF WA. The Wei zhi records her sending envoys to the Wei court, receiving the title Friend of Wei, Queen of Wa, a gold seal and a hundred bronze mirrors. She is described as ruling by sorcery, unmarried, seen by almost no one. Her kingdom Yamatai has never been located and its position is the longest-running argument in Japanese archaeology.8 AD 712 and 720 — The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Japan's own histories, compiled eight centuries after the events above. They give a first emperor, Jimmu, in 660 BC and a descent from the sun goddess — and no archaeology or contemporary record supports either. Everything on this page before AD 712 reaches us from China or from the ground.10
  1. 1c. 14,000 BCJOMON POTTERY
  2. 2c. 3000 BCThe Jomon at its height
  3. 3c. 900 BCThe Yayoi transition begins
  4. 4c. 300 BCBronze bells and the new order
  5. 5AD 57THE GOLD SEAL OF NA
  6. 6AD 107Suishō sends slaves
  7. 7c. AD 180The disorder in Wa
  8. 8AD 238HIMIKO, QUEEN OF WA
  9. 9c. AD 250The Kofun tombs
  10. 10AD 712 and 720The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki

This lane is thin, and the reason is the point of it. Two of the ten entries come from Japanese sources, and both were written in the eighth century AD. Everything before that is either Chinese testimony or excavation. The earliest named ruler of Japan is named in a Chinese book; the gold seal that confirms him was found by a farmer in 1784.

And the pottery inverts the usual sequence. Jōmon vessels are among the oldest found anywhere, and they were made by hunter-gatherers — pottery before agriculture, and a settled culture without farming that lasted ten thousand years. Set that against the Indus, literate and urban and unreadable, or against China, whose script has run unbroken since 1250 BC. What survives is not what happened. It is what somebody wrote down, or what the ground kept.

The Register

How the grading reads. one amber dot: a single channel carries it. two green: two independent sources cross. three green: a contemporary inscription, coin or other object. Ten entries.

№DateLaneEventAtt.
1c. 14,000 BCARCHAEOLOGY JOMON POTTERY. Cord-marked pottery from the Japanese islands is among the oldest ceramic vessels found anywhere, with some sherds dated beyond 14,000 BC. Made by hunter-gatherers, not farmers — which inverts the usual sequence in which pottery follows agriculture.
2c. 3000 BCARCHAEOLOGY The Jomon at its height. Settled villages, lacquerware, and the dogu clay figures. A sedentary culture without agriculture, sustained on marine and forest resources for some ten thousand years.
3c. 900 BCARCHAEOLOGY The Yayoi transition begins. Wet-rice paddy farming arrives from the Korean peninsula, with bronze, iron and the loom. The dating has been pushed back several centuries by radiocarbon work and is disputed. Population rises sharply.
4c. 300 BCARCHAEOLOGY Bronze bells and the new order. Dotaku bronze bells, weapons and mirrors, most cast locally from continental models. Moated settlements appear, and with them the first evidence of organised warfare in the islands.
5AD 57RECORD THE GOLD SEAL OF NA. The Hou Hanshu records that the king of Na in Wa sent envoys to the Han court and was given a gold seal. A gold seal was ploughed up on Shikanoshima island in 1784, inscribed with characters read as king of Na of Wa of Han. The object and the text agree.
6AD 107RECORD Suishō sends slaves. The Hou Hanshu records a king of Wa presenting 160 people to the Han emperor. The earliest named ruler in Japanese history is named in a Chinese book.
7c. AD 180RECORD The disorder in Wa. Chinese records describe years of warfare among the states of Wa, ended when the people agree to set a woman on the throne.
8AD 238RECORD HIMIKO, QUEEN OF WA. The Wei zhi records her sending envoys to the Wei court, receiving the title Friend of Wei, Queen of Wa, a gold seal and a hundred bronze mirrors. She is described as ruling by sorcery, unmarried, seen by almost no one. Her kingdom Yamatai has never been located and its position is the longest-running argument in Japanese archaeology.
9c. AD 250ARCHAEOLOGY The Kofun tombs. Vast keyhole-shaped burial mounds begin. The largest is longer than the base of the Great Pyramid. The imperial tombs are administered by the Household Agency and have not been opened to archaeologists.
10AD 712 and 720RECORD The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Japan's own histories, compiled eight centuries after the events above. They give a first emperor, Jimmu, in 660 BC and a descent from the sun goddess — and no archaeology or contemporary record supports either. Everything on this page before AD 712 reaches us from China or from the ground.