The Jomon people is what archaeologists have called fisher-hunter-gatherers who lived on the islands of what is now Japan between about 14,000 BC and AD 500. Within that long period of time, the Jomon lived in different ways, adapting with climatic change and other natural and cultural forces.
While the Jomon were definitely not agriculturalists--they depended on hunting, gathering and fishing--by the Early Jomon period of about 6,000 years ago, they did live a settled life in fairly organized villages. Information collected from the large Sannai Maruyama archaeological site, occupied by Jomon hunter-gatherers between about 3900-2300 BC, has given us much more information about how the Jomon lived. Sannai Maruyama is well worth visiting, even if you can't get to Japan.
Sources
See Jomon Timeline and Definition for further information about the JomonSee the official Sannai Maruyama website for further information. If you are planning a visit to Japan, the site is open to visitors, with a museum and several reconstructed buildings.
Habu, Junko 2008 Growth and decline in complex hunter-gatherer societies: a case study from the Jomon period Sannai Maruyama site, Japan. Antiquity 82:571–584.
Habu, Junko and Clare Fawcett 1999 Jomon archaelogy and the representation of Japanese origins. Antiquity 73:587-793.
Habu, Junko, Minkoo Kim, Mio Katayama, and Hajime Komiya 2001 Jomon subsistence-settlement systems at the Sannai Maruyama site. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 21:9-21. Free download
Anonymous. The Sannai Maruyama Site: Extraordinarily Large Settlement in Prehistoric Japan. Undated pamphlet available at the Sannai Maruyama site webpage.
