28 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

14,000 years old vessels made by Hunter-gatherers in Japan

The Late Pleistocene inhabitants of Tanegashima Island were making pottery about 14,000 years ago. In the Jomon period, people obtained food mainly through gathering, fishing, and hunting. There is no sign of them starting to settle and grow food.

Previously, hunter-gatherers on the move were not thought to have developed pottery. however, it is now known that pottery preceded agriculture in East Asia.

Researchers examined specimens dated to the  Incipient Jomon from the Sankauyama I site on Tanegashima Island in southern Japan. They are associated with the Incipient Jomon culture, which spanned from 14,000 to 13,500 years to 12,800 years ago. (The final phase of the Jomon culture was 300 B.C.E.)

The vessels, discovered and excavated by the Kagoshima Prefectural Archeology Center and now reviewed by lead author Fumie Iizuka of the University of California along with Jeffrey Ferguson of the University of Missouri and Masami Izuho of the Tokyo Metropolitan University, are apparently among the earliest pottery in the world.

According to radiocarbon-based geochronology, pottery vessel technology first appeared in East Asia and Northeast Asia in the late Pleistocene.

Jomon pottery, deep bowls
Jomon pottery, deep bowls

Jomon pottery continued to be produced for approximately 10,000 years.

“Those vessels are all hunter-gatherer’s vessels,” Fumie Iizuka of the University of California spells out. They were not made by early farmers. There is no evidence whatsoever of domestic plants or animals on Tanegashima, or in the southern Kyushu region as a whole, she says.

Even considering that the advent of agriculture was a long-term process, the team suggests that the Initial Jomon of southern Kyushu was pre-agricultural. “Therefore, pottery was made before farming,” she says.

In her opinion, the dating of pottery found in southern China to 20,000 or 18,000 years ago, or items in the Transbaikal region of Siberia seemingly from 16,700 years ago, remains unproven, Iizuka explains.

Most of the early pottery found on Tanegashima was locally made. But 10 to 14 percent of them came from other islands, which the team said likely reflects prehistoric cultures and trade relationships. The pottery itself was exchanged, or locally available goods may have been included in the pottery and exchanged, Iizuka qualifies, adding: the decorative styles of the pottery are like that of southern Kyushu.

China dating 20,000 to 10,000 years ago. Photo: Zhangzhugang
China dating 20,000 to 10,000 years ago. Photo: Zhangzhugang

Timing by volcano

The team used Sakurajima, a highly active volcano in southern Kyushu, as the timing for the geochronology of the Tanegashima pottery.

Based on volcanic gunk securely dated to 12,800 years ago that lies above the pottery, the team concludes that the pottery at the open-air site of Sankakuyama I on Tanegashima is between 14,000 to 13,000 years old.

Eleven Incipient Jomon sites have been identified on that island. One is Sankakuyama, which had been occupied from the Incipient Jomon until about 1,700 years ago. (Tanegashima in general has been occupied for about 35,000 years, Iizuka says.)

Despite being pre-agricultural, the Incipient Jomon was marked by a population increase, especially in Tanegashima. It was a time of global climate change and gradually rising sea levels as the Ice Age wound down. As the waters rose, Tanegashima became isolated, cut off from Kyushu, about 14,300 years ago.

Sakurajima
Sakurajima. Wikipedia

On the other hand, as the Ice Age waned, the living at Sankakuyama was easy, with relatively reliable balmy weather. They wouldn’t have had to trek long distances to forage, the archaeologists believe.

This would have enabled increased sedentarism, enabling pottery manufacture: no less than 4,000 pieces were found at Sankakuyama from the Incipient Jomon. The items were bowls – some shallow, some deep – and decorated mostly with appliqués bands, and some with shell or tool stamping and fingerprints. And some plates.

Further suggesting sedentarism, the people had heavy-duty grinding stones and lived in pit-houses, Iizuka says, which applies to all the Incipient Jomon sites on Tanegashima. She adds that being inland but near the sea, there would have been plenty of seafood. Sadly, because the soil is acidic, bones from their repasts have not survived the ages. However, analysis of encrustations on the pottery indicates that they ate animals, plants, and seafood.

Jomon Pottery. Photo: Met Museum

Fumie Iizuka, “The concept of Neolithic needs to be reevaluated. We argue that in the case of southern Kyushu, especially on the islands like Tanegashima, there are varied signatures of Neolithic existing during the Incipient Jomon: pottery, grinding stones, ground stone axes, increased sedentism” – and more.

The research was published in PLOS ONE in March.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265329

Related Articles

Archaeological Finding Traces Chinese Tea Culture Back To 400 BC

7 February 2022

7 February 2022

An archaeological team from Shandong University, east China’s Shandong Province, has found the earliest known tea remains in the world...

A 13th-Century Italian Fresco Reveals the Medieval Church’s Use of Islamic Altar Tents

3 February 2025

3 February 2025

A recently rediscovered 13th-century fresco in Ferrara, Italy, offers significant insights into the medieval practice of utilizing Islamic tents to...

7,000-Year-Old Animal-Figured Seals Found in Arslantepe, Anatolia’s First City-State

27 August 2024

27 August 2024

Archaeologists working at the Arslantepe Mound (Turkish: Arslantepe Höyük), a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Türkiye’s eastern Malatya province and...

Who will solve the puzzle of Bronze Age tin? Origin of tin ingots from Uluburun shipwreck disputed – the metal may have come from Cornwall

3 October 2023

3 October 2023

The exact origin of tin in the Bronze Age is the Holy Grail of archaeometallurgists: For 150 years, experts have...

The first Iberian lead plate inscribed with an archaic script was found at Pico de Los Ajos in Yátova

13 June 2021

13 June 2021

At the Pico de Los Ajos site in Valencia, Spain, a rare lead sheet engraved in ancient Iberian was unearthed....

Archaeologists may have discovered the site where Otto the Great, founder of the Holy Roman Empire, died

5 October 2023

5 October 2023

Archaeologists believe they have found the site where Emperor Otto I (936-973), known as the Great, founder of the Holy...

Iconic Double Arch collapsed after an ancient pyramid in America, Tribes Link Fall With ‘Bad Omen’

10 August 2024

10 August 2024

Two ancient North American structures collapsed within just nine days of one another. The iconic Double Arch, also known as...

Genetic Analysis Reveals A Woman As The Highest-Ranking Individual In Copper Age Spain: ‘Ivory Lady’

6 July 2023

6 July 2023

According to a study published Thursday (July 6) in the journal Scientific Reports, the highest-status individual in ancient Copper Age...

A tiny 2,300-year-old votive vessel presented to the gods by the poor was found in the Ancient City of Troy

27 August 2022

27 August 2022

A 3-centimeter in size tiny vessel made of clay was found in the ancient city of Troy located at Hisarlik...

New Evidence could Change the Date People First Arrived in North America

2 June 2021

2 June 2021

While investigating the origins of agriculture, researchers made an unexpected discovery. According to an unexpected finding made by an Iowa...

Archaeologists Discover Clay Figurines from Early Iron Age in Ukraine

17 December 2024

17 December 2024

Archaeologists have discovered clay figurines of young bulls from the Early Iron Age near the Metropolitan Chambers in the village...

Oldest footprints of pre-humans identified in Crete

11 October 2021

11 October 2021

Six million-year-old fossilized footprints on the island show the human foot had begun to develop. The oldest known footprints of...

1800-year-old statue head found in Ancient Smyrna Theater in western Turkey

30 July 2022

30 July 2022

A statue head dated to the 2nd century AD was unearthed during the excavations at the Ancient Smyrna Theater, located...

An 8,000-year-old number stone found in Yeşilova Mound

27 July 2023

27 July 2023

The 8,000-year-old numeral stone, which is thought to have been used while calculating during the Yeşilova Höyük (Yeşilova Mound) excavation...

45,000 years ago, Neanderthals in the Swabian Jura used complex tool-making techniques

13 September 2021

13 September 2021

Findings that will change our perception of Neanderthals’ sophistication A team from the University of Tübingen have proved that Middle...