-Times of gathering food -
With chipped stone implements in their hands, they walked about the forest and seashore searching for their food.They dig a hole in the ground, then put up wooden poles and covered them with grass. This was the house called 'Tate-ana-jukyo.' Their food werec
Spring: shellfish, bud or sprout and seaweed
Summer: shellfish, bonitoes and tuna
Autumn: salmon, sea bream, acorns, grapes and mushrooms
Winter: carp, crucian carp, wild boar, deer, rabit and seal
What is 'Jomon'?
They made the earthenware called 'Jomon-doki.'
'Doki' means 'early earthenware' in Japanese.
' Jomon' means 'a pattern of the rope (Code mark)' in Japanese. Before they threw the clay pot into the fire, they pushed a rope on the clay to print its pattern. Most of earthenware which was made during 10000 years ago to B.C.300 have such particular design.
It seemed that women made earthenware 'doki' and men produced stone arrowheads or stone axes by chipping and abrading small stone.They used these 'doki (earthenware)' to store their food, to remove the tannin of acorns and to boil shellfish.
They also left large piles of shells called 'Kai-Zuka' (the mound of shells ) which became fossils. We understand it is the litter of Jomon-jin (Jomon people). Fishhooks made of bones, wooden comb and even bones of human were found from 'Kai-Zuka.'
It was Edward Sylvester Morse (1838~1925),an American natural scientist.He stayed in Japan from 1877~1879,1882~1883.During his stay, he taught natural science at The Tokyo University. He found 'Omori Kai-Zuka' and wrote 'Shell Mounds of Omori.'He called these marks on the pottery he'd found 'Code mark.'
A Japanese Junior High school student imaged ancient people.
