The Mystery of Ancient Japan

An Argument for the Extraterrestrials?

The photo on the left is the same one as in the beginning of my article of June 10, 2006 Ancient Japan and Extraterrestrials? Take a closer look at what the Goggled Dogu, also called Shako Dogu by the Japanese, is wearing. It is definitely is not an animal hide.

What is known about Jomon is that their garments were made from animal skins. Jomon were, in many respects, a rather primitive culture of hunters and gatherers. So why does the above shown dogu wear such a unique garment that very much resembles some sort of armor? And if it is not armor, than it definitely is a very unique type of clothing. Who could have imagined such a dress in a culture that had no concept of clothing other than that made of hides?

Even more curious is the fact that that Goggled Dogu is not a sole such object found in Japan. A number of goggled figurines, very much resembling one another, were excavated throughout the ancient Jomon territory, mostly in the north. This representation was obviously a common knowledge. Considering that the Jomon population of the Japanese archipelago, even at its peak, was only about a quarter of a million (see the previous article of July 23, 2006), how could people scattered far apart produce almost identical clay representations? Remember, there was no means of transportation at the time other than one’s own feet.

Though Jomon, being hunters, were partially nomadic, that does not explain why the image of a goggled figurine was so readily accepted by all the different Jomon clans who were not in a regular communication with each other.

Could a primitive culture have such an inventive imagination as to dream up of images never seen by anybody, translating them into physical representations accepted collectively by far scattered populace?

In addition, why did Jomon people waste their time and energy making elaborate clay dogu that had no utilitarian use? If these were indeed religious or talismanic objects, could they have been actually inspired by something encountered in real life? Judging on the aesthetic complexity of these objects, their religion was not simplistic.

Jomon also left mysterious stone circles, as did many other ancient cultures like, for instance, the ancient Brits with their Stonehedge and other circular stone formations. It is not known what exactly these stone circles were used for. It is speculated that they were used for religious rituals, and also to keep track of astronomical calendar events like solstices and equinoxes.

Though Jomon pottery is highly advanced in craftsmanship and detail, it was produced without a potter’s wheal since they did not know it. It is hard to imagine the Jomon vases featured in my June 10, 2006 article being used in everyday life as mundane food preparation utensils and storage containers.

During the Yoyoi period (300 BC-300AD) that followed the Jomon, pottery was very simplistic and utilitarian. It had no aesthetic elements or conceptual and artistic complexity of the Jomon pottery. Not a single clay dogu sculpture was found belonging to Yoyoi period. The impetus that had inspired the creation of the Goggled dogu was no longer present.

It appears that either Jomon were culturally far more advanced in their everyday habits and the mode of life than is presently believed. Or they were influenced by something outside of themselves that has not yet been accounted for.

It is very clear:
1) There is a dichotomy between the aesthetics portrayed through Jomon clay creations and the supposedly primitive conditions of their everyday life.
2) The origins of their unique artistic inspiration as well as their elaborate religion have not yet been sufficiently explained.

* “Goggled” dogu
Important Cultural Property
1000 to 400 BC
Prehistoric period: Jomon (10,000 to 400 BC)
© Tokyo National Museum collection

This figurine is presently on display at the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History Pointe-à-Callière, 350 Place Royal, Montreal, QC H2X 3Y5, Canada, until Oct. 15, 2006
Museum’s Website:
http://www.pacmuseum.qc.ca

Here is an example of a fragment of another Goggled Dogu, not shown at the museum.

Japan Without Rice?

Try Nut Cookies Instead!

It is difficult to imagine Japan without Rice. Today, one half of all arable land in Japan is devoted to rice paddies. But rice was brought to Japan only in 300 BC by Korean peninsula inhabitants.

It is certain that the ancient Japan’s Jomon period from 10,000 to 400 BC - that I talked about in my two previous postings - was totally without rice. Unlike the contemporaneous population on the continent, the Jomon people were not agricultural, though they tended some plants, and were good at exploiting the islands’ recourses. They hunted deer and wild boar with bows and arrows, gathered and cooked nuts, harpooned whales, fished for salmon, and harvested shellfish.

The Jomon lived in large villages. In colder regions, they made pit-dwellings with sunken floor that took advantages of the soil’s natural insulation. Throughout the archipelago, they also build wood structures, some of them quite large. The archaeologists uncovered the remains of such buildings, as well as dug-out holes that originally held enormous upright chestnut trunks. At the Japan Exhibition currently held at the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History Pointe-à-Callière (http://www.pacmuseum.qc.ca ) you can see photos from the Jomon Sannai Maruyama dwelling site. They show gigantic holes in the ground where tree trunks were inserted, and a hypothetical reconstruction of a three-floor building.

Nut Cookies Instead of Rice

So if Jomon did not have rice what did they eat instead? Nuts!

The archaeologists found that many dwelling sites had pits containing nuts. The Jomon soaked some types of nuts to remove bitterness, and grounded them to make edible dough and cookies. At the Japan Exhibition you can see a photo of the charred remains of cookies excavated at the sites.

And the recipe for those cookies?

Ground hazelnuts
Yams
Perilla (spice)
Basil
Garlic
Shallots

Grind and mix all the ingredience, make cookie patties, put them on a flat stone used as a cookie sheet - also found during excavations - and cook over an open fire pit.

How large was Jomon population?

According to some estimates, the archipelago’s population grew from 20,000 in the early Jomon, to over 260,000 by the Middle Jomon. But around 900 BC the number of Jomon dwelling sites started to decline. By the end of that period there were only about 75,000 people left. So what had happened?

It is difficult to say why there was such a market decline. Despite the fact that the climate was cooling and Mount Fiji erupted a few times, that did not cause the population to decline. Something else may have been responsible: the arrival of immigrants from the continent. The new know-how that they brought with them transformed daily life in the archipelago.

Around 400 BC political turmoil rocked the East Asian continent. For some time, small groups of people have been leaving the Korean peninsula. Most of them migrated to Kyushu, the Japanese archipelago island closest to the continent. They also spread northeast almost as far as the island of Hokkaido. It is not known if their encounter with Jomon was peaceful. What is clear, they mixed with the local population – as shown by modern day Japanese DNA research.

And thus in 300 BC began the Yayoi period, which lasted up to 300 AD. It was the period of bronze, iron, and rice. And this is when rice became a staple of Japanese cusine.

The photo in the beginning of this article shows a dogu clay mask.*

* Earthenware mask
2000 to 1000 BC
Prehistoric period: Jomon (10,000 to 400 BC)
© Tokyo National Museum collection

This eloquently simple mask shows only relief modelling and a distorted mouth. It was unearthed by a farmer clearing land.

What Is Dogu?

The readers of my previous article

Ancient Japan and Extraterrestrials?

(published on June 10, 2006)

have expressed a great interest regarding the picture which appears at the very beginning of that article - Photo 1.

What is a dogu? It is a type of Jomon ritual object. The first such object was discovered in the 17th century, and labeled dogu, “an earthen-ware figurine”. The archaeologists have since turned up approximately 15,000 of these dogu. Some represent animals, but most are human shaped. It remains unclear what they were used for. Since most dogu have feminine features: breasts, wide hips, and pregnant bellies, it is therefore assumed that they were perhaps intended to invoke the fertile earth goddess.

Almost all of dogu were found in fragments. They might have been broken deliberately and their pieces scattered like those of “medicine dolls”, used in purification rituals to dispel the source of a person’s suffering. Later in the Jomon period, dogu were placed in graves. Dogu were no longer produced after the Jomon period, which lasted from 10,000 to 400 BC.

The Goggled Dogu is among the largest dogu of its kind, and is the best preserved. As was mentioned before, many science-fiction enthusiasts claim it to represent an extraterrestrial. But scientists argue that dogu figurines should not be taken literarily. According to them, dogu daringly push the boundaries of the representational form. They claim that this particular figurine appears to be wearing the sort of bone “goggles” once worn by Inuit to protect their eyes from sun’s glare on the snow. However, no goggles of this type have ever been found in Japan. It is also claimed that “goggles” may represent eyes closed in death, or portray the magical power attributed to eyes.

The picture above, at the begging of this article, also shows a dogu (* see below for more comments). It is called Dogu with almond shaped eyes. The figure is female, and comes from 3,000-2,000 BC. It is, therefore, more ancient than Goggled Dogu which comes from 1,000-400 BC.

Dogu with almond shaped eyes was produced during the time when pottery was reaching its zenith; and so were also some dogu true masterpieces. It was made during the same time as “Flame-style” deep bowl, on Photo 3 in the article from June 10, 2006. During that period, as can be seen in the above photo, the base was broader, so the figurines could stand on its own, while the head and torso remained narrow. This resulted in an oddly attractive shape. This remarkably preserved piece is the largest hollow cone-shaped dogu.

Both dogu figurines discussed above (and much more) are currently on display at the Japan Exhibition, Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History Pointe-à-Callière, 350 Place Royal, Montreal, QC H2X 3Y5, Canada, until Oct. 15, 2006.

Museum's Website:
http://www.pacmuseum.qc.ca/

* Dogu with almond-shaped eyes
Important Cultural Property
3000 to 2000 BC
Prehistoric period: Jomon (10,000 to 400 BC)
© Minami-arupusu City Board of Education, Yamanashi, Japan