Japanese Jomon Ceramics
Ceramics developed independently all over the world. The Japanese Jomon were perhaps the very first people to create storage and cooking jars, their techniques and style has little change for 8,000 years. The oldest pots are from the Jomon culture; the oldest one is dated to about 10,700 BCE. There is some debate over the first ceramic pot; there are some vague references to pieces found in Siberia that closely matches the age to those of the incipient Jomon. Even if this was the case, it is highly unlikely the Jomon culture traded outside of Japan at this time. The people of Japan were isolated, and later on their contact was limited to mainly Korea and parts of China. Korean and Kyushu techniques, shapes and design slowly converged in the late and final phase of Jomon ceramics, and another unique Japanese style doesn’t arise again until the medieval period. There is little debate between scholars about the structure and functions of Jomon pottery, so I plan to present an introduction to the utilitarian ceramic crafts of the Jomon people from three sources, Douglas Moore Kenrick, Namio Egami, Junko Habu and Mark E. Hall. The three texts by these authors offer more insights to certain areas than the former, th . . .
Sterilization was now possible, which reduced contamination and the spread of disease. Coiled, knotted ropes were rolled onto the clay’s surface, leaving a textured imprint. But has Jomon pots of the early phase became thicker, yet fired at the same rate, with temperatures now averaging close to 700 degrees. These earthenware pots are typically low fired and thin usually ranging from 5-8mm in thickness (Kenrick 30-31). (Modern pots are often fired to 1,100 degrees in the biscuit firing). Anthropologists have noted the health and age of people from these regions greatly improve with evidence suggesting a more established society, such as the middle Jomon phase, where the population reached a high of about 260,000 people. If fine enough and evenly blended throughout the clay, it also does not leave an impression into the clay. Cord marking was the most widespread and common technique, but favored in eastern Japan. What is so interesting in Jomon, is that each piece is dramatically different, each vessel has a strong, stately character to it. Illustration #1 is an example of an Initial Jomon pot with a pointed bottom and bean-lump decoration. 32) (Mica is present in the grit used for tempering. The clay (earthenware) is very porous, but it retained water long enough to serve for cooking. Some vessels were laminated in two layers, the inner layer being composed of purer clay. Pots, like this one were then buried into the ground halfway before a cooking fire was built around the pot, so that pot remained below the level of flames. In many cases where the wheel was introduced, production went up, but the artistic quality dramatically dropped, as potters shifted their attention to quantity vs.
Common topics in this essay:
Mark Hall, Habu Hall, Middle Jomon, Initial Jomon, Japan Coiled, Towards Jomon, Japanese Jomon, Jomon Japan, Korean Kyushu, Kendrick Jomons, jomon culture, jomon ceramics, middle jomon, jomon pots, jomon people, pots jomon culture, pots jomon, jomon ceramics unique, inner layer, ceramics unique, pot bottom, practical purposes, habu hall comment, jomon culture traded, layers inner layer, |
Acceptance Essays
