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Concept
Yayoi period
Summary
The Yayoi period 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 period should be reclassified as Early Yayoi. The date of the beginning of this transition is controversial, with estimates ranging from the 10th to the 3rd centuries BC.
The period is named after the neighbourhood of Tokyo where archaeologists first uncovered artifacts and features from that era in the late 19th century. Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new Yayoi pottery styles, improved carpentry and architecture, and the start of an intensive rice agriculture in paddy fields. A hierarchical social class structure dates from this period and has its origin in China. Techniques in metallurgy based on the use of bronze and iron were also introduced from China via Korea to Japan in this period.
The Yayoi followed the Jōmon period and Yayoi culture flourished in a geographic area from southern Kyūshū to northern Honshū. Archaeological evidence supports the idea that during this time, an influx of farmers (Yayoi people) from the Korean Peninsula to Japan overwhelmed and mixed with the native predominantly hunter-gatherer population (Jomon).
The Yayoi period is generally accepted to date from 300 BCE to 300 CE. However, although highly controversial, radiocarbon evidence from organic samples attached to pottery shards may suggest a date up to 500 years earlier, between 1 000 BC and 800 BC. During this period Japan transitioned to a settled agricultural society using agricultural methods that were introduced to the country, initially in the Kyushu region, from Korea.
The earliest archaeological evidence of the Yayoi is found on northern Kyūshū, but that is still debated. Yayoi culture quickly spread to the main island of Honshū, mixing with native Jōmon culture.
The name Yayoi is borrowed from a location in Tokyo where pottery of the Yayoi period was first found.
Official source
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