Memoir (18) by Professor Joe Watkins, University of Arizona, USA
One of the defining artifacts of the Jomon Periods in Japan (from about 10,000-300 BC) is the dogū – figurines made of clay that have been interpreted to represent fertility symbols. But then any representation of the female form is interpreted to represent fertility symbols, especially if they represent fleshy, rotund figures like the carved Venus figurines of the Upper Paleolithic of Europe.
In late March, Hirofumi Kato, graduate student Clara Astier, and I visited the Jomon homelands of the Hakodate area of southern Hokkaido and the Aomori province of northern Honshu to tour archaeological sites representative of the Jomon Period of Japanese archaeology. We visited museums and reconstructed pit house structures, and looked at various classes of artifacts that were representative of archaeological cultures within the very broad Jomon Period. There were lots of trade items indicative of widespread interaction between communities, as well as different shapes and types of pottery, which gives this period its name (“jomon” means “rope marked”, or “cord-marked,” basically describing the decoration pattern on pottery sherds).
But the most intriguing and remarkable (and marketable!) artifacts of the sites are the dogū. Each one is different in obvious or subtle ways, with the earlier ones were merely representations of the human form. Latter ones, however, generally represented “fleshy” female forms. We truly don’t know why they were crafted, or what their use was, but it was breath-taking to stand in front of one or two (or many more of them!) and really look at them. Some with abstract eyes and disproportionate bodies invite conjecture, and some theorists had likened their appearances to astronaut suited figures wearing helmets and goggles.
What do you think? Care to conjecture?
Kakku, Chobinaino dogū Hakodate Jomon Center.
Seated dogū from Korekawa, Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture.
Kizukuri Train Station representing a dogū.