Prehistoric Clay and Jomon Pottery

The Discovery of Prehistoric Clay Art

Imagine walking along a railroad construction site near Tokyo in 1877. An American zoologist named Edward Sylvester Morse notices a deep trench cut into the earth. Inside the layers of dirt and ancient marine shells, he catches sight of weathered clay fragments sticking out from the soil. When he pulls them free and brushes away the dirt, he discovers dark, heavy pottery covered in distinct, raised patterns that look like twisted rope. Morse had stumbled upon a shell mound at a site called Omori, and with it, he opened the door to the oldest known artistic tradition in Japanese history.

Morse named these artifacts cord-marked pottery, using the Japanese translation Jomon. The word jo means cord or rope, and mon means pattern or mark. Historians now use the term Jomon period to describe an expansive era of Japanese prehistory lasting from roughly 14,000 BCE to 300 BCE.

Before the discovery of Jomon pottery, scholars assumed that advanced ceramic production could only arise in agricultural societies. Pottery is heavy, fragile, and difficult to transport, making it an ideal technology for farmers who stay in one place. Nomadic hunter-gatherers, by contrast, usually rely on lightweight containers made of woven grass, animal hides, or wood.

The Jomon people challenged this assumption. They were gatherers, fishers, and hunters who lived in the rich forests and along the abundant coastlines of the Japanese archipelago. Because the temperate climate provided an extraordinary abundance of nuts, salmon, berries, and shellfish, the Jomon people did not need to constantly roam across long distances. They established semi-permanent villages, living in sunken pit dwellings and remaining in one location for long seasons.

This semi-settled lifestyle allowed them to experiment with local riverbed clay. Over thousands of years, they created one of the most expressive and visually dramatic ceramic traditions in the ancient world. Rather than viewing clay vessels strictly as utilitarian containers, Jomon artisans shaped, carved, and decorated their pottery with remarkable creative energy.

The Jomon era spans more than 10,000 years, making it one of the longest continuous cultural periods in human history. To better understand how their art changed across this vast timeline, archeologists divide the Jomon period into six distinct sub-periods:

• Incipient Jomon (roughly 14,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE): The earliest phase, characterized by simple, round-bottomed vessels used primarily for cooking over open fires.
• Earliest Jomon (roughly 10,000 BCE to 7,000 BCE): Containers feature pointed bases designed to be stabilized in soft earth or ashes, with initial experiments in cord marking.
• Early Jomon (roughly 7,000 BCE to 4,000 BCE): Flat-bottomed vessels become common, and cord-marking techniques spread rapidly across the Japanese islands.
• Middle Jomon (roughly 4,000 BCE to 2,000 BCE): The artistic peak of decorative extravagance, famous for dynamic, sculptural rims that resemble leaping flames.
• Late Jomon (roughly 2,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE): A period of refined craftsmanship, thinner vessel walls, and specialized forms, along with an increase in ritual clay figurines.
• Final Jomon (roughly 1,000 BCE to 300 BCE): A phase marked by darker, burnished surfaces and intricate geometric incisions, transitioning into the incoming agricultural age.

Throughout these six phases, Jomon potters maintained a deep relationship with the raw earth beneath their feet. They did not use mechanical tools like wheels or enclosed kilns. Every vessel was a direct product of human hands shaping moist earth and hardening it with open fire.