Exploring Prehistoric Pottery in Japan

This volume explores how scientific analysis of Jōmon and Yayoi pottery reveals evidence of prehistoric life. Examining plant remains, tool impressions, food residues and carbonised traces, it demonstrates how “excavating inside the pottery” can reconstruct ancient lifeways, technologies and environments.

Jōmon pottery is globally renowned for its lavish ornamentation and functional beauty. Beyond its aesthetic value, this pottery serves as a crucial archaeological archive, preserving microscopic traces of prehistoric life. Recent interdisciplinary research reveals that cultivated plants, household pests, and plant-based tempering agents left distinct imprints and voids within the clay fabric. Furthermore, impressions of woven mats and fishing nets provide direct evidence of the tools and materials used in vessel construction. Organic substances and carbonised residues absorbed by the pottery during usage enable the identification of ancient foodstuffs and medicinal plants, while also providing materials for precise radiocarbon dating, alongside carbonised inclusions. Collaboratively termed ‘excavating inside the pottery’, this scientific approach reconstructs past lifeways through artefactual analysis. This volume presents the theoretical framework of this methodology, along with illustrative, empirical case studies from Jōmon and Yayoi pottery.

List of Figures and Tables

Acknowledgments

Preface – Hiroki Obata

Chapter 1: Prehistoric Pottery in Japan

Prehistoric pottery in the Japanese archipelago and its dating: The beginning of pottery and paddy-rice farming – Ken’ichi Kobayashi

Pottery and the spread of agriculture in Japan – Dai Kunikita

The emergence of cultivated plants in Japan: Seed impressions and carbonised seeds – Kei Ōta, Tatsuya Kokubo, Takashi Sano, Asako Yanagihara, Aya Manabe, Hiroki Obata

Chapter 2: Vegetal Temper and Pottery

Vegetal-tempered pottery in the Jōmon Period – Eastern Japan – Akinori Abe

Vegetal-tempered Pottery in the Jōmon Period -Western Japan – Kazutomo Mizunoe

Vegetal-tempered pottery of the world – Yastami Nishida

Plant temper identification methods – Yastami Nishida

Examination of vegetal temper through phytolith analysis – Tetsuro Udatsu

Identification of plant materials tempered in Jōmon pottery – Yastami Nishida, Mitsuo Suzuki, Kazutaka Kobayashi, Akinori Abe

Chapter 3: Macrobotanical Remains on and Inside Pottery Fabrics and Their Uses

Identification of woven baskets, mats and cords – Yuka Sasaki, Shuichi Noshiro, Kazutaka Kobayashi

Woven items as pottery impressions – Aya Manabe

Identification of materials adhering to pottery surfaces – Yuka Sasaki

Fishing nets in Jōmon Pottery – Hiroki Obata

Chapter 4: Various Impressions Found on Pottery

Detected seed impressions on pottery and their significance – Hiroki Obata

Various insect impressions – Hiroyuki Yoshitomi

‘Hidden’ shell middens and discoveries from shell impressions on pottery – Taiji Kurozumi

Proposal for ‘a pottery-impression house pestology’: Reconstructing prehistoric life and food from insect impressions – Hiroki Obata

Chapter 5: A Comprehensive Analytical Approach to Prehistoric Pottery

Artificial intelligence and pottery studies: Advancing classification approaches – Israel Mendonça

Pottery studies and comprehensive analytical approach – Hiroki Obata

Conclusion – Hiroki Obata, Ken’ichi Kobayashi, Dai Kunikita, Yuka Sasaki, Yoshiki Miyata, Akinori Abe, Yastami Nishida

• Edited by Hiroki Obata