What is the difference between the Yayoi period and the Jomon period, and how has your residence, food, and life changed?

Mankind used stones as stone tools to live and hunt.

As time goes by, mankind makes an epoch-making invention called earthenware. With the advent of earthenware, the Paleolithic era has moved to a new era, and human culture has grown dramatically.

The Jomon / Yayoi culture was famous as a culture that used the pottery.

This time, I would like to compare the difference between the Yayoi period and the Jomon period.

Difference between Jomon period and Yayoi period

If you write it as Zakuri in the Jomon / Yayoi period ...

Jomon period ⇒

In the culture of about 10,000 years, about 15,000 to 2,300 years ago, a thick black-brown " Jomon pottery " with a rope pattern. Living in hunting and gathering Was doing.

Yayoi period ⇒

A thin, light brown " Yayoi pottery with a simple design such as a straight line in the era of about 600 years from about 300 BC to about 300 AD. Mainly paddy rice cultivation life Was doing.

I also learn at school, but the difference is earthenware characteristics and lifestyle It is characterized by being mainly classified in, and is it like this that we are aware of? ??

Let's dig a little deeper into each ...

From the time before that, it is summarized here with illustrations.

About the Jomon period

It is said that the Jomon period is from 15,000 to 2300 years ago, but there are various theories and there are regional differences. Prior to that, the Paleolithic It was said that the temperature of the whole earth dropped and it was said to be the ice age.

When the ice age ended and the earth warmed, human life changed drastically.

Humans in the Paleolithic era mainly used large prey such as mammoths as food, but as the prey became smaller due to global warming, hunting and wildcrafting methods and tools changed.

Jomon period dwelling

A common dwelling in the Jomon period is " pit-house ”, The ground is dug, a pillar is erected in the center, and trees are connected to form a skeleton.

It is a house with a roof of plants such as phragmites on it, and the deeper you dig a hole, the warmer the winter and the cooler the summer.

Until the Paleolithic era, people lived in different dwellings for hunting, but as the number of pit-house dwellings increased, people began to settle down there.

From the Paleolithic period to the beginning of the Jomon period, people lived on the move, but with the development of pit-house dwellings, people began to settle down without changing their place of residence.

Tools of the Jomon period

With the end of the ice age on earth and the change to a warmer climate, plants have become richer. In addition, large animals that had been hunted until now have disappeared, and the number of small animals has increased, which has changed the hunting tools used so far.

Bow and arrow was born to catch such a small animal. was. Small animals are so quick that bows and arrows are easier to catch than traditional spears.

Also, lithic reduction made by crushing stones so far. Ground stone tool made by polishing stones and sand from Was born, and bone tools made by processing animal bones and horns. Was using. It is believed that this was processed into a fishhook style and fished in rivers.

Jomon period clothing

Some bone tools are like sewing needles, and I used them to make clothes using the fibers of plants such as hemp.

Kantogi It is believed that this outfit, called, was a simple piece of clothing that was worn by making a hole in the cloth and sticking out the head from there.

Also, it seems that the fur of animals caught by hunting was also used for clothes.

Jomon period meals

As I wrote in articles such as shell mounds, the people of the Jomon period were very gourmet, and with the blessings of the sea, mountains, and rivers, they enjoyed various flora and fauna every season. It is also said that processed foods were made from acorns and perilla. It seems that rice cultivation was introduced in some areas in the latter part of the Jomon period, but rice is still the staple food in the previous story.

Jomon pottery

A major feature of the Jomon and Yayoi periods is the pottery, which is a thick pottery baked at low temperature that was used in the Jomon period. [ Jomon pottery ] Is called. Many of them are dark brown, and are characterized by the Jomon pattern that is attached by rolling the rope. There are pottery patterns that have not only Jomon patterns but also three-dimensional decorations.

Using this pottery, people used it for punching and cooking nuts such as acorns.

Jomon period culture

Many clay dolls from the Jomon archaeological site [ Dogu ] Is excavated.

Many clay figurines represent women. The clay figurines of dolls are often excavated with a broken part of their body, and it is thought that this is a kind of magic that heals injuries.

Also, the Jomon people's garbage dump * [ Shell mound ], And about 2500 shell mounds are still found. Not only shellfish, but also earthenware, bone tools, stone tools, etc. have been found in the shell mound.

It turns out that the Jomon people also have a culture of burial and are burying the dead. At that time, I bent my hands and legs and buried it in a state like a gymnastics sitting " burial It seems that the burial method was taken. * There are various theories

Details about the Yayoi period

On the other hand, the Yayoi period refers to about 600 years from about 300 BC to about 300 BC, but one theory is that it is about 800 BC.

The characteristic of the Yayoi period is that it has been paddy rice cultivation since the Jomon period, when it was mainly harvested and hunted. Has become the center of life, and the lifestyle has changed significantly. Roles began to be decided in the village, leaders were born, and people began to make a difference in status.

Yayoi period residences and buildings

The living environment in the Yayoi period was the same as in the Jomon period, living in a pit-house style dwelling.

As a new building, [ stilt warehouse to store grains etc. ] Was born.

In addition to houses and warehouses, the main shrine in the northern inner hull of the Yoshinogari ruins There was also a large ritual building in the center of the village.

These buildings were painted on earthenware. From the painting of earthenware, the tall building is sacred in the Yayoi period. It is believed that the idea of ​​being was present.

Yayoi period tools

Since rice cultivation began in the Yayoi period, new tools used for rice cultivation were born.

Hoes and plows for cultivating soil , The sickle used when harvesting rice ears and the " Stone sickle " in the photo on the right. , mortar and pestle used to thresh the harvested rice ears Has been found.

It seems that the prototypes of farm tools that lead to the current rice cultivation were already in place during the Yayoi period.

Until the early Yayoi period, most of the farm tools were made of wood, but after the middle period, it was made of iron, as can be seen from the iron farm tools excavated from the Yoshinogari ruins in Saga Prefecture. I did. Iron seems to have come from the Korean Peninsula, and it is thought that work efficiency has improved significantly by becoming an iron farm tool.

Yayoi period clothes

During the Yayoi period, when the difference in status began to appear, there was also a difference in clothing.

While the clothes of the common people were the same as in the Jomon period, it is said that the high-ranking leaders wore sleeves with a structure different from that of the trousers.

A silk fabric was excavated from the Yoshinogari ruins, and it is believed that this was used as clothing by a high-ranking person. The silk cloth was dyed with purple dye from shellfish secretions and plants. Therefore, the leader of the village is red or purple-colored clothes with sleeves . It is believed that he was wearing.

Yayoi period meal

Rice was the staple food of the Yayoi period when rice cultivation began, and wheat, red beans, and millet were also cultivated as grains. The way to eat was to cook rice with earthenware and eat it like porridge . It has been with. A spoon-like thing for eating this porridge was excavated from the ruins of the Yayoi period.

For foods other than rice, we used to eat deer and wild boar for hunting, and shellfish and fish as protein sources. We also know that we kept dogs and wild boars for food.

The custom of eating dogs is thought to have been introduced from the customs of China and the Korean Peninsula.

It seems that Grandpa had eaten a dog a long time ago, and she said that her taste was similar to that of a rabbit. To be honest, I can't imagine her because she hasn't even eaten a rabbit ...

Yayoi period pottery

In the Yayoi period as well as in the Jomon period, [ Yayoi pottery ] I was using earthenware called.

Characterized by light brown color And simple and undecorated like Jomon pottery It has become. The pottery was only a few millimeters thick, but it was baked at high temperatures and very durable . It's called. There are various shapes, such as pot-shaped and dish-shaped, depending on the application.

It is known that it was more elaborate and practical than Jomon pottery.

Yayoi period culture

Since rice cultivation began in the Yayoi period, people build villages. The village will soon be Kuni And the leader was born. Kuni from all over the world, created in the latter half of the Yayoi period, begin to fight to increase their territory. Yamatai Kuni, led by Himiko, who appeared in this era, is also considered to be one of these Kuni gatherings.

The existence of social organizations and classes can be seen from the tombs of the Yayoi period, and royal tombs filled with secondary foods such as mirrors and copper halberds have been found in the tombs.

In the latter half of the Yayoi period, it looked like a hill with piles of soil and stones. ] Is seen, and the leaders of the time are sleeping there.

Also, burial Burial by is reduced in the Yayoi period. From the latter part of the Jomon period, the method of burial in the form of stretching and sleeping became widespread in western Japan. This burial method is extended burial Is called.

It seems that there was no fixed burial method such as lying on his back, lying down, or not lowering his arms, even if it was called an extension burial. From the method of digging directly into the ground until then, it is possible to create a space surrounded by trees and stones like the current casket in the dug soil and bury it as if sleeping in it. It has increased.

The burial place is now buried in a place like a graveyard, which is a little away from the place where it lived, and the living space and the burial place are separated.

Comparison table between the Yayoi period and the Jomon period