Book Review

JUNKO HABU 2004. Ancient Jomon of Japan Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Review by NAOKO MATSUMOTO
Department of Archaeology, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan

Antiquity 79 no. 305 September 2005

The Jomon period of the Japanese Archipelago is well known for its complex hunter-gatherers and decorated pottery. The extent of archaeological data published in Japanese and the difference in academic approaches, however, have made the Jomon a difficult field to approach for most non-Japanese researchers. Having trained in Japan and North America, the author of the book is ideally positioned to write a unique, stimulating book on the Jomon, as she has first hand knowledge of archaeological data of the Jomon, as well as an understanding of theories and models developed in Anglo-American archaeology. As a result, this new book has three distinctive features.

Firstly, it presents excellent case studies of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Secondly, it gives a comprehensive overview of Jomon archaeology. And thirdly, it can be read as a comparative theoretical analysis of Anglo-American and Japanese archaeologies. Following a general introduction, Chapters 2 and 3 provide basic information and theoretical background for the case studies that follow in Chapter 4; the latter are mainly concerned with subsistence and settlement archaeology. The latter half of the book completes the picture by focusing on symbolic and political aspects of the Jomon cultures. The authoršs clear perspective results in a book that presents a coherent picture of how Jomon societies changed through 10 000 years.

In the case studies, careful analyses and convincing arguments allow the author to apprehend dynamic changes in the settlement pattern of Early and Middle Jomon societies. The author's view of Jomon society as collectors with seasonal moves may not surprise readers outside Japan, but her new view of the Jomon has already caused a few heated arguments in Japan, as the understanding of Jomon society as fully sedentary has been widely accepted in Japan. I strongly believe, however, that her model is well supported by evidence and will play a critical role in improving the understanding of Jomon society in years to come.

Her hypothesis of population movement as a cause of subsistence and settlement changes requires more testing and discussions, but it is a fascinating hypothesis and an important step towards a better understanding of the mechanisms of change. There are more cases of possible dynamic population movement in other phases and places in the Jomon period awaiting examination, including the Late and Final Jomon period in Kyushu, which this reviewer would love to investigate.

The latter half of the book, as the author admits, is more descriptive than analytical. The first half is written in a clear Anglo-American style, while the second half is representative of the more descriptive style of Japanese archaeology. Readers should, I hope, be able to feel the diversity of archaeological approaches here.

The contents may sometimes look too simple to those who know the evidence well, while it may look too complicated to those who are not familiar with the Jomon. A balance had to be struck. The author carefully selects the most up to date discussions on various aspects of Jomon rituals, crafts and trade, giving the reader a general understanding of Jomon archaeology and highlighting the richness of its material culture. Of course, many interpretations presented in the book have opponents and critics. For example, Harunari's theory of Jomon tooth extraction as a sign of postmarital residence (pp. 140-141) has been criticised as being inadequate when applied to Jomon tribal society. Habu's new model of a more mobile Jomon should also have implications for the interpretation of tooth extraction practices.

As mentioned, readers will see a clear contrast between very different approaches in this book. It is one of the advantages of the book that the author is fully conscious of these differences and analyses them without taking sides. While the author's research strategy clearly belongs to the Anglo-American tradition, she also acknowledges the achievement of Japanese archaeology. Some readers may be surprised to learn that certain ideas on settlement or social archaeology emerged quite early in Japan in different trajectories. The author's goal to bridge the gap between the two academic traditions (p. 5) is not an easy task, but this book is an important step forward.

Overall, this book is comprehensive, informative and academically exciting. But if a reader wishes to pursue specific points, it would be difficult to do so without reading Japanese, as the extremely rich archaeological literature on Jomon is still mostly confined to Japanese publications. This, of course, is not the fault of this book. I hope, as the author does, that this book will inspire academic interest in the Jomon period among archaeologists from other countries and will lead to more active international researches in the near future.