Harpoon head
Final Jōmon period (ca. 1000–300 BCE)
Not on view
The Jōmon period is the earliest period in Japanese history, lasting from roughly 14,000 to 300 BCE. The Jōmon people were primarily hunter-gatherers, hunting land animals and gathering vegetables and nuts on the land as well as hunting and fishing at sea. Harpoon heads such as this one testify to the importance of seafood in the diets of some Jōmon communities, especially those close to the sea. Fish bones found at Jōmon archaeological sites indicate that the Jōmon hunted fish not only close to the shore but also farther out in the open sea, where larger fish could be caught. There is even evidence that the Jōmon ate pufferfish, a poisonous fish considered a delicacy in modern Japan.
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