Ancient Jomon of Japan
Author: Junko Habu
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2004-07-29
Total Pages: 358
ISBN-13: 9780521776707
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Prehistoric Japan
Author: Keiji Imamura
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-09-17
Total Pages: 302
ISBN-13: 1135362408
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn illustrated introduction to the prehistory of Japan, treated in its own right and not as a minor part of East Asia in general.
Japanese Prehistory
Author: Nelly Naumann
Publisher: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag
Published: 2000
Total Pages: 294
ISBN-13: 9783447043298
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe existing literature on Japanese prehistory is mostly focussed on describing material culture; this new study surveys the early artifacts and shows that they were either neglected in previous studies or reported of by unfounded and fantastic speculation. The author identifies prehistoric ideas concerning hunting and fishing, the cult of the dead, and the after-life. The cosmological implications of burial topography and stone-circles are as well examined as older written texts from other parts of the world aiding in elucidating the symbols recognized on these remains. This helps to link the Jo-mon materials to other remains of similar or older age from the ancient Near East, China, the Pacific, and ancient America and proves that prehistoric Japan was never really isolated from the rest of the world. Although the method developed in this study, which rejects speculation and bases itself entirely on archaeological remains, permits only the elucidation of a part of the rich spiritual culture of prehistoric Japan; it reveals an abundance of new information concerning the most important religious ideas of mankind: the constant renewal of life, and the belief that death is not the ultimate end.
Jomon Reflections
Author: Tatsuo Kobayashi
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
Published: 2004
Total Pages: 264
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA fully-illustrated introduction to the archaeology of the Jomon period in Japan, this book explores the complex relationships between Jomon people and their rich natural environment. From the end of the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago to the appearance of rice agriculture around 400 BC, Jomon people subsisted by hunting, fishing and gathering; but abundant and predictable sources of wild food enabled Jomon people to live in large, relatively permanent settlements, and to develop an elaborate material culture. In this book Kobayashi and Kaner explore thematic issues in Jomon archaeology: the appearance of sedentism in the Japanese archipelago and the nature of Jomon settlements; the invention of pottery and the development and meaning of regional pottery styles; social and spiritual life; as well as the astronomical significance of causeway monuments and the conceptualisation of landscape in the Jomon period. These ideas are considered in the light of current work in the European Mesolithic and Neolithic, setting Jomon archaeology within a global context. The book draws extensively on new archaeological information from various parts of Japan, including the sites of Sannai Maruyama, Isedotai, Komankino among others. Extensive colour illustrations provide a vivid demonstration of Jomon ideology and creativity. Tatsuo Kobayashi is Professor of Archaeology at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo and Director of the Niigata Prefectural Museum of History. Simon Kraner is Assistant Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.
An Archaeological History of Japan, 30,000 B.C. to A.D. 700
Author: Koji Mizoguchi
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 2002-05-07
Total Pages: 298
ISBN-13: 9780812236514
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn original, substantial contribution to interpretive archaeology (the first of its kind for Japan and East Asia), An Archaeological History of Japan addresses a broad range of issues concerning the self-identification of groups and the use of the past in contemporary society.
In the Wake of the Jomon
Author: Jonathan Turk
Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 287
ISBN-13: 9780071449021
DOWNLOAD EBOOKRecounting his two-year, 3,000-mile kayak voyage from Japan's bamboo forests to the tundra of Siberia and Alaska, Turk--in the thrilling tradition of "Kon Tiki"--introduces strong archeological and anthropological evidence that his expedition was not the first.
The Sacred Science of Ancient Japan
Author: Avery Morrow
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2014-01-24
Total Pages: 210
ISBN-13: 1591437504
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe first English translation and examination of secret Japanese writings dating from the paleolithic to classical eras • Examines four suppressed and secret texts to discover the deeper truths beneath Japanese mythology • Introduces evidence of ancient civilizations in Japan, the sacred geometry of primitive times, and claims of a non-Earthly origin of the Emperors • Explores how these texts convey the sacred spiritual science of Japan’s Golden Age with parallels in ancient India, Europe, and Egypt In Japan there are roughly two dozen secret manuscripts originally dating back to the paleolithic era, the age of heroes and gods, that have been handed down by the ruling families for centuries. Rejected by orthodox Japanese scholars and never before translated into English, these documents speak of primeval alphabets, lost languages, forgotten technologies, and the sacred spiritual science. Some even refer to UFOs, Atlantis, and Jesus coming to Japan. Translating directly from the original Japanese, Avery Morrow explores four of these manuscripts in full as well as reviewing the key stories of the other Golden Age chronicles. In the Kujiki manuscript Morrow uncovers the secret symbolism of a Buddhist saint and the origin of a modern prophecy of apocalypse. In the Hotsuma Tsutaye manuscript he reveals the exploits of a noble tribe who defeated a million-strong army without violence. In the Takenouchi Documents he shows us how the first Japanese emperor came from another world and ruled at a time when Atlantis and Mu still existed. And in the Katakamuna Documents the author unveils the sacred geometries of the universe from the symbolic songs of the 10,000-year-old Ashiya tribe. He also discusses the lost scripts known as the Kamiyo Moji and the magic spiritual science that underlies all of these texts, which enabled initiates to ascend to higher emotional states and increase their life force. Taking a spiritual approach à la Julius Evola to these “parahistorical” chronicles, Morrow shows how they access a higher order of knowledge and demonstrate direct parallels to many ancient texts of India, Europe, and Egypt.
Globalizing the Prehistory of Japan
Author: Ann Kumar
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2008-11-24
Total Pages: 219
ISBN-13: 1135784728
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis iconoclastic work on the prehistory of Japan and of South East Asia challenges entrenched views on the origins of Japanese society and identity. The social changes that took place in Japan in the time-period when the Jomon culture was replaced by the Yayoi culture were of exceptional magnitude, going far beyond those of the so-called Neolithic Revolution in other parts of the world. They included not only a new way of life based on wet-rice agriculture but also the introduction of metalworking in both bronze and iron, and furthermore a new architecture functionally and ritually linked to rice cultivation, a new religion, and a hierarchical society characterized by a belief in the divinity of the ruler. Because of its immense and enduring impact the Yayoi period has generally been seen as the very foundation of Japanese civilization and identity. In contrast to the common assumption that all the Yayoi innovations came from China and Korea, this work combines exciting new scientific evidence from such different fields as rice genetics, DNA and historical linguistics to show that the major elements of Yayoi civilization actually came, not from the north, but from the south.
The Archaeology of Japan
Author: Kōji Mizoguchi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2013-11-25
Total Pages: 393
ISBN-13: 052188490X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe first book-length introduction to the Yayoi and Kofun periods of Japan (c.600 BC-AD 700).
Ancient Oaxaca
Author: Richard E. Blanton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1999-05-27
Total Pages: 168
ISBN-13: 9780521577878
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book investigates the emergence of social complexity and state formation in a New World region. Around 500 BC, the Valley of Oaxaca, in present-day Mexico, was the site of one of the earliest Native American states, when a new regional capital was established at Monte Alban. Today one of Mexico's most famous and spectacular archaeological sites, Monte Alban signalled an important series of changes in regional political structure in the direction of greater political complexity and integration within a larger domain. The four authors of this introductory text have over the years produced much of the most important primary information we have about developing complex societies in this region. Drawing on the abundance of excavated remains and a survey of regional archaeological settlement patterns, they provide a succinct account of the causes and consequences of political change in the region.
