The evidence of chipped stone tools suggests that humans inhabited Japan at least 30,000 years ago. "Neolithic" cultures called “Jomon” (that still retained stone tool traits of earlier periods), date to at least 10,000 BC. The Jomon people were hunters and gatherers who lived upon the rich resources of game, fish, and wild plants native to post-Ice Age Japan. One of the unusual features of Jomon culture is pottery—the oldest reliably dated on earth. By 8,000 BC a type of cord-wrapped pottery—with decorated lines made by wrapping or laying cords on wet clay – developed. Other clay objects are the so-called dogu ("earth god") figurines. These are small statues that look something like “extra-terrestrials” (or Pokemon cartoon figures!) that may have been used in fertility worship. Always few in number, the Jomon peoples seem to have been centered on the Kanto plain area of Honshu island.
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