A Comparative Study of Jomon and Yayoi Pottery Imagery

OZAWA Maho1* and SHIROISHI Tetsuya2

Prehistoric pictorial expression in the Japanese archipelago is characterized not by cave or rock surfaces but by pottery as the primary medium. Many images from the Jomon and subsequent Yayoi periods were painted or incised onto vessel surfaces, and their motifs and compositional structures provide important insights into the worldviews of past communities. This study compares the compositions of hunting-themed Jomon pottery and pictorial Yayoi pottery to explore how differences in depicted worlds reflect contrasting social structures between hunter-gatherer societies and rice-farming communities. Hunting-scene Jomon pottery frequently combines animal figures—such as wild boar or bears—with human representations, often interpreted in relation to hunting rituals. In contrast, Yayoi pictorial pottery includes not only hunting scenes but also depictions of agricultural work, architecture, and other non-animal elements, presenting a broader range of human-centred activities. Previous research has tended to focus on symbolic interpretations of individual motifs, while comparative studies emphasizing compositional structure remain limited. This presentation analyses the spatial arrangement, viewpoint, and scene construction of these two pottery traditions. Jomon compositions show a tendency toward fixed combinations and standardized arrangements, whereas Yayoi pottery displays more varied scenes centred on human activities beyond hunting. These compositional differences suggest underlying contrasts between societies grounded in close relationships with nature (Jomon) and those shaped by cooperative labour and emerging social order (Yayoi). By examining these divergent visual worlds, this study offers a new perspective for comparative research on imagery across the diverse social contexts of the Indo-Pacific region.