Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 45 (4) 2017   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.4.045-055

Annotation:  New Data on the Chronology of the Initial Neolithic Gromatukha Culture, Western Amur Region Holocene Fishing in the Big Sea Region of Lake Baikal (Based on Materials from Multilayered Habitati Comparative Characteristics of Stone Tools from the Neolithic Sites on the Upper and Middle Kama On the History of Asian Bosporus in the Early Byzantine Times: Excavations at Verkhnegostagayevskoye The Jomon Megalithic Tradition in Japan: Origins, Features, and Distribution A Morphological Analysis of Malyshevo Middle Neolithic Pottery from the Lower Amur New Absolute Dates for the Trans-Uralian and Western Siberian Neolithic Anthropomorphic Bronze Masks from the Timiryazevo-1 Burial Ground A Multidisciplinary Study of Burial Mounds and a Reconstruction of the Climate of the Turan-Uyuk De Classifi cation of 9th–13th Century Arrowheads Found in Azerbaijan Chinese Lacquerware from the Pazyryk Burial Ground Chineta II, Altai A Late 16th to Early 17th Century Mongolian Ceremonial Helmet from the Moscow Kremlin Armoury Dendrochronological Methods in the Architectural and Ethnographic Study of Russian Towns in Siberia Kinship Analysis of Human Remains from the Sargat Mounds, Baraba Forest-Steppe, Western Siberia Intragroup Variation of the Facial Skeleton in 16th–19th Century Rural Russian Populations in the W   

The Jomon Megalithic Tradition in Japan:
Origins, Features, and Distribution

A.V. Tabarev, D.A. Ivanova, A.L. Nesterkina, and E.A. Solovieva

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

The Jomon monumental structures on the islands of Kyushu, Honshu, and Hokkaido represent the earliest of three traditions, the two others being associated with the cultures of Yayoi and Kofun. The beginnings of this tradition date back to the Early Jomon (ca 8000 BP), while its peak coincides with the Late Jomon (4000–3000 BP). Unlike the people associated with the two later traditions (agriculturalists and animal breeders), the Jomon people were hunters, gatherers, and fishers. This is the first Russian study that addresses various types of Jomon monumental structures (stone alignments, stone circles, earthen mounds, and “geometric” shell middens), their distribution and chronology. The most interesting sites (Yubunezawa II, Oyu, Komakino, Sannai Maruyama, Kasori, etc.) are documented with drawings and photos. It is hypothesized that the tradition originated as early as the Final Paleolithic and the transition to the Jomon Mikoshiba culture. We present parallels with sites in the adjacent territories of the Russian Far East (Primorye) such as Ustinovka-4, Suvorovo-4, and Bogopol-4. Given the complexity of the monumental structures (elaborate layout, traces of wooden structures, burials, numerous works of art, visual effects, astronomical orientation, “sundials”), these sites can be viewed as multifunctional ritual centers. In terms of the amount of material and labor required for construction, they are comparable with the Neolithic funerary structures of Western Europe.

Keywords: Japan, Jomon, funerary structures, mounds, burials