In the Jomon period※1, people ate meat and fish and people seemed generally equal.
However, the difference between people appeared in the Yayoi period※2. When people started planting rice which could be preserved. Some people had
good farming skills and could store a lot of crops but other people couldn't.
In addition, when people planted rice, they
had to work cooperatively, so they needed a leader of their group. This caused differences
in social positions between them.
Furthermore, shamans became powerful because they were believed to be able to predict good or bad harvest of the crop.
Little by little,
small villages were formed. These were combined and then became provinces. Some
provinces became big and powerful. Leaders
of these big provinces were called Kings.
↑Yayoi earthenware
※1 the Jomon period ranged from around 12,000 B.C. to around 400 B.C.
※2 the Yayoi period ranged from around 400 B.C. to around 300 A.D.
This photo was taken in the Nerima Furusato museum.
In the late Jomon period※1,, about 2700 years ago, rice farming at paddy fields was started in
northern Kyusyu region.
Around the same time, it is considered that metal ware made of bronze was introduced to Japan from the Continent. Bronze bells, bronze swords and bronze pikes were produced in those days. These bronze products were very heavy; therefore it is thought these were used for rituals. Around the 6th century BC, people started practical use of ironware, such as farm tools, implements and arms.
In this period,
thin strong earthenware without straw rope patterns was created. The type of earthenware
was first discovered at Yayoi-town in Tokyo. Therefore, the type of earthenware
was named the Yayoi earthenware and the period is called the Yayoi period※2.
Around the 4th century BC, the Yayoi culture based on rice farming was formed in western Japan and it expanded to eastern Japan.
When people started rice farming, they needed storehouses to preserve the crops. Then they built storehouses having floors that were raised above the ground. The pillars under the floors had boards that prevented mice from entering the storehouses.
※1 the Jomon period ranged over from around 12,000 B.C. to around 400 B.C.
※2 the Yayoi period ranged from around 400 B.C. to around 300 A.D.
◎This photo was taken at The Nerima Furusato museum.
In the Jomon period※ people used not
only chipped stone tools but also polished stone tools. By using these tools,
people hunt animal such as deer and wild boars and caught marine life. People
ate nuts and some grain too.
By researching ancient
dumpsites, you can speculate how our ancestors lived. The dumpsites are called
Kai-duka, which means shell-mound.
Omori-kai-duka is the first discovered shell-mound in Japan. It was discovered by an American zoologist, Edward Morse in 1877. On the day after his arrival, he went to Tokyo from Yokohama by train. When he was watching outside the train window, he saw the shell-mound. He had studied many similar sites in his country, so he immediately recognized that it was a shell-mound.
※1 the Jomon period ranged over from around 12,000 B.C. to around 400 B.C.
◎This photo was taken at the The Nishitokyo-city hometown museum.
1:the 5th century 1:the 6th century 1:the 7th century 1:the 8th century 1:the 9th century 2:the Asuka period 2:the Heian period 2:the Jomon period 2:the Kofun period 2:the Nara period 2:the Paleolithic period 2:the Yayoi period あ:agriculture あ:art あ:book あ:Buddhism あ:community あ:culture あ:earthenware あ:education あ:food あ:foreign diplomacy あ:houses あ:law あ:military service あ:person あ:politics あ:religion あ:social system あ:society あ:tax あ:tool あ:war 携帯・デジカメ 旅行・地域
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