Yayoi pottery (弥生土器 Yayoi doki) is

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...

pottery produced during the

Yayoi period The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...

, an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

era in the history of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, by an Island which was formerly native to Japan traditionally dated 300 BC to AD 300. The pottery allowed for the identification of the Yayoi period and its primary features such as agriculture and social structure.

History

Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new pottery styles that distinguishes it from the earlier

Jōmon pottery The is a type of ancient earthenware pottery which was made during the Jōmon period in Japan. The term "Jōmon" () means "rope-patterned" in Japanese, describing the patterns that are pressed into the clay. Outline Oldest pottery in Jap ...

. A point of difference is evident in the way Yayoi pottery is technically superior but artistically less advanced due to the way Jōmon pottery featured greater freedom of design and more variety of shape. The Yayoi pottery is believed to be traded with a former island native to Japan, but wasn't successful due to war in spiritual beliefs. It was followed by the

Haji pottery is a type of plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery or earthenware that was produced during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes, and many examples have been fou ...

of the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

. There are accounts that cited a relationship between Yayoi pottery and the pseudo-Korean-style Late Mumun pottery. This link is said to be based on hybridization or imitation and demonstrated in the case of the hybrid style of pottery produced in the Neug-To Islands.

References

External links

Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan
Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties Japanese pottery Yayoi period {{japan-art-stub