Synopses & Reviews
Despite an incredibly rich prehistory covering nearly ten thousand years, modern coverage of complex hunter-gatherer societies has tended to overlook the Jomon of Japan. This text presents an overview of the archaeology of the Jomon Period between 10,000 and 300 BC within the context of more recent complex hunter-gatherer societies. It bridges the gap between academic traditions in Japanese and Anglo-American archaeology and represents an invaluable source of reflection on the development of human complexity.
Review
"comprehensive and well-written...This book represents a break from authoritative and often stifling academic traditions in Japan." Canadian Journal of Archaeology Aubrey Cannon, McMaster University
Synopsis
An overview of the Jomon period in Japan (circa14,500-300 BC) within the context of recent complex hunter-gatherer studies.
Synopsis
Junko Habu provides an overview of the archaeology of the Jomon period (circa14,500-300 BC) of Japan and presents new analyses. As a prehistoric hunter-gatherer culture characterized by the presence of large settlements and sophisticated pottery, the Jomon culture of Japan has attracted many archaeologists and art historians. Using ecological models of subsistence, settlement and society, Habu examines regional variability of, and long-term changes in, the Jomon culture in relation to the development of Jomon cultural complexity as a whole. It will prove invaluable to students and researchers alike.
About the Author
Junko Habu is Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley. She has conducted fieldwork both in Japan and in North America. Her publications include Subsistence-Settlement Systems and Intersite Variability in the Moroiso Phase of the Early Jomon Period of Japan, International Monographs in Prehistory (2001).
Table of Contents
Part I. Overview: 1. Introduction; 2. Background to the study: overview of the Jomon Period; Part II. Subsistence and Settlement: 3. Subsistence strategies; 4. Settlement archaeology; Part III. Rituals, Crafts and Trade: 5. Mortuary and ceremonial practices; 6. Crafts and exchange networks; Part IV. Discussion and Conclusion: 7. Discussion and conclusion.