(1) A type of pottery named after a place in Tokyo where it was first identified in 1884; (2) an archaeological culture characterized by this pottery; (3) a period (approximately 300 bc — ad 300) when this culture predominated. In Japanese archaeology, the Yayoi period follows Jomon and precedes Kofun. It is conventionally divided into three parts Early (300-100 bc), Middle (100 bc-ad 100) and Late (ad 100-300). The dates are based mainly on imported Chinese bronze mirrors, because the radiocarbon dates for Yayoi tend to be very erratic. Yayoi pottery is far less ornate than Jomon ware, but is made and fired in basically the same way. When the pot was being finished, it may have been placed on a stand that was turned by hand, but a mechanical wheel, mentioned in earlier descriptions of Yayoi pottery, was not used. The firing temperature is estimated to be between 700 and 850 degrees centigrade. Apart from the pottery, the Yayoi culture is characterized by definite evidence of agriculture and the use of metal tools. Rice was cultivated from the beginning in prepared fields with water control devices. Wheat, barley, buckwheat and some varieties of beans and melons were also grown, but wild nuts and fruits, as well as fish, shellfish and game continued to contribute to the diet. Bones of domesticated fowl, cattle and horses have occasionally been reported. Iron utensils were used almost from the beginning, gradually becoming more important. The virtual disappearance of polished stone axes and semilunar harvesting knives from Late Yayoi sites indicates their replacement by iron axes and sickles. Bronze artefacts first appeared as imports from Korea and China in small quantities in Early Yayoi, and in larger numbers in Middle and Late Ceremonial objects in the shapes of weapons and bells (dotaku) were cast in Japan by Middle Yayoi, and copies of Chinese mirrors in Late Yayoi times. Yayoi houses were semi-subterranean or built at ground level. Some were raised on piles above the ground. The square or rectangular floor area was most frequently between 20 and 30 square metres. A very large structure, sometimes reaching 100 square metres, was often built among a group of several smaller ones. Such a group formed a small settlement, or several such groups might make up a larger settlement. A series of settlements, a large one with several smaller ones, seem to have formed a community. The burial practices were varied. The dead were placed in extended or flexed position directly in the ground, or in wooden coffins, slab cists or in ceramic jars set mouth to mouth. In some cases, dolmens were built over the graves (see megalithic monuments, Japan). In others, small mounds were constructed and coffins and burial jars were placed inside them. Some of the Middle Yayoi burial jars in northern Kyushu contain an extraordinary amount of imported luxury goods, while others are sparsely furnished. The Yayoi culture first appeared in northern Kyushu and quickly spread along the coast and river valleys of western Japan. It then moved more gradually into highlands and towards the north, although it never crossed the Tsugaru Strait to reach Hokkaido. The initial spread of the Yayoi culture was probably by population expansion. The later expansion, on the other hand, was the result of the adoption by Jomon people of Yayoi customs, because the Middle and Late Yayoi ceramics of eastern Japan combine Jomon decorative techniques with Yayoi vessel shapes. Many of the cultural items which make up the Yayoi culture, such as cereal cultivation, plain pottery, weaving, and jar and dolmen burials, had been present in northern Kyushu since Late and Final Jomon times. We do not yet fully understand whey these coalesced into the Yayoi culture around 300 bc. In any event, the old idea that the Yayoi people were ancestral Japanese who suddenly replaced the Jomon people does not seem to be an appropriate interpretation.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied