Photo/Illutration This aerial photo of the Nakanoya Matsubara archaeological site in Gunma Prefecture shows holes for pillars of a dwelling, while the squares represent the contours of the building. The squares, which overlap each other but sit at slightly different positions, suggest the dwelling was rebuilt at least 14 times. (Provided by Gunma Prefecture’s Annaka board of education)

Studies of ancient Jomon sites in separate areas of Japan show that lifestyles of the people varied from region to region, contrary to the common belief that they were almost uniformly similar across the country.

The Jomon Pottery Culture Period flourished from around 14500 B.C. to 1000 B.C. and boasted distinctive rope-patterned earthenware.

Marked differences in how people lived emerged from a comparison of finds in the Nakanoya Matsubara archaeological site in Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, with those from the Sannai Maruyama ruins in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan.

This conclusion was reached by Yutaka Daikuhara, an associate professor of archaeology at Kokugakuin Tochigi Junior College in Tochigi Prefecture outside Tokyo who excavated the Nakanoya Matsubara site in the 1990s.

“The Jomon Period was not marked by a single uniform culture, and cultural attributes and people’s values were dramatically different among different areas,” Daikuhara said.

REUSED HOMES, EARTHENWARE

He found that a recycling culture appeared to have been broadly shared at Nakanoya Matsubara when it was home to dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people primarily in the early Jomon Period.

Daikuhara cited traces of 130 homes that showed signs of continuous use with wooden pillars replaced repeatedly as the dwellings were expanded and upgraded.

The alterations date to between 6,000 years and 5,700 years ago during the middle of the early Jomon Period. Main pillars remained in place so side walls and roofs could be extended outward.

Toward the end of the early Jomon Period around 5,500 to 5,400 years ago, people started rebuilding their homes on the original sites, Daikuhara said.

“The dwellings were relatively large and boasted heavy duty structures,” he noted. “They appeared to have been in use for prolonged periods and underwent constant repairs.”

Daikuhara found that thick wooden pillars were recycled, indicating that the occupants cherished where they lived.

Unearthed pottery shards in Nakanoya Matsubara that feature complex patterns and complicated shapes with drastic curves reinforced his impression that refined production methods were in use.

As a result, fewer pieces of pottery were unearthed compared with similar-size habitats from the period. The surfaces of numerous ceramic pieces bore traces of having been reshaped after they had been damaged.

Tall bowls were reused as shorter containers when their upper sections were broken, while vertically cracked ones were turned into plates. Few vessels in their original form survived.

“Earthenware works were used as much as possible until there was no point in continuing to do so,” Daikuhara said. “The practice of small-scale production and reuse was rigidly adhered to.”

After the Nakanoya Matsubara site was excavated, the plot was developed for construction. Thus, the latest study is based on past finds.

PRODUCED, CONSUMED IN LARGE QUANTITY

Unlike the Nakanoya Matsubara site, the Sannai Maruyama ruins feature a “culture of mass production and consumption.”

Sannai Maruyama is thought to have been occupied between 5,900 and 4,200 years ago on an irregular basis from the middle of the early Jomon Period through the end of the mid-Jomon Period.

It thrived mostly from around 5,300 to 5,000 years ago around the middle of the mid-Jomon Period.

Daikuhara explained that simple cylindrical vessels, which required fewer processes for easier production, were widely used.

Complete or barely damaged ceramics were unearthed in large numbers. A huge waste dump was also found.

Most of the dwellings were small and vulnerable, leading Daikuhara to conclude they were rebuilt at short intervals.

Little evidence was found of dwellings having been expanded and repaired, suggesting that the occupants lived in them for long periods.

Daikuhara likened the differences between the two regions to the situation modern Japan faced following the end of World War II.

“The culture at Sannai Maruyama closely resembles that of the period of Japan’s high economic growth,” he said. “Nakanoya Matsubara had a culture similar to that of the low-growth period that emerged following the collapse of the asset-inflated economy (in the early 1990s).”

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