Ceramic rim sherds. Late Jomon period, 1500–1000 BC. From Honshu Island, Japan: Kan’no Shellmound (left), Okura Shellmound (lower right), unknown (upper right). Asian Archaeology, Nishimura Collection. UMMAA 88-37-74 (l), 88-37-75 (upper r), 88-37-76 (lower r).

The Jomon period of Japan dates from c. 11,500 to 300 BC. Pottery was an important technology for the semi-sedentary Jomon, who foraged and fished. Spatial, stylistic, and technological changes in Jomon earthenware ceramics have allowed archaeologists to create ceramic chronologies for several regional Jomon traditions. In the 1980s, archaeologist Masae Nishimura, from Waseda University in Tokyo, exchanged a type collection of Jomon ceramics for a similar collection from the Museum’s Eastern North America Ceramic Repository. The 98 sherds in the Nishimura Collection span the entire Jomon sequence, from Incipient to Final Jomon; most come from well-documented shell mound excavations conducted by Nishimura in the Tokyo area. The three fragments shown here date to the Horinouchi I (left and upper right) and Kasori B (lower right) subphases of the Late Jomon period, c. 1500–1000 BC.

Back to Day 98 or continue to Day 100.

In honor of the University of Michigan’s 2017 bicentennial, we are celebrating the remarkable archaeological and ethnographic collections and rich legacy of research and teaching at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology by posting one entry a day for 200 days. The entries will highlight objects from the collections, museum personalities, and UMMAA expeditions. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is also posting each day for 200 days on Twitter and Facebook (follow along at #KMA200). After the last post, an exhibition on two centuries of archaeology at U-M opens at the Kelsey. Visit the exhibit—a joint project of the UMMAA and the Kelsey—from October 18, 2017 to May 27, 2018.