Prehistoric Japan
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 3 November 2024
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
From the arrival of the first humans reaching the Japanese archipelago some 50,000 years ago to the enduring Jomon culture, Japan has a fascinating prehistory. This is discovered in the rich archaeological record that includes stone circles, intricate ceramics and evidence of the incredibly diverse hunter-gatherer lifestyle that was mastered.
Join Tristan Hughes and archaeologist Dr. Simon Kaner to explore the incredible archaeological discoveries and the ongoing debates about Japan's ancient past, revealing a complex tapestry of cultural evolution long before the advent of rice farming.
Presented by Tristan Hughes. The audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, it was produced by Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of The Ancients is sponsored by The Economist. The Economist provides access to |
| 0:05.7 | in-depth expert analysis of world events and topics ranging from business and culture to science |
| 0:11.8 | and technology. It's independent journalism for independent thinking with reports from |
| 0:17.5 | correspondence on the ground across the world. |
| 0:23.0 | Just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, |
| 0:25.1 | something that caught my eye this week is a recent article about how important and central horses have been |
| 0:29.4 | in moulding empires throughout human history. |
| 0:32.9 | Given my great interest in the Great Step |
| 0:35.1 | and the ancient peoples who lived there |
| 0:37.0 | and became the first great masters of the horse Step and the ancient peoples who lived there and became the first |
| 0:38.5 | great masters of the horse, this fascinated me. The Ancients listeners can get a one-month free |
| 0:44.7 | trial now by visiting Economist.com slash ancients. You'll receive the weekly digital edition |
| 0:51.2 | plus online-only articles, narrated stories, podcasts, curated newsletters |
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| 1:06.0 | It's 5,000 years ago, and a prehistoric community of master foragers are building a great monument for their settlement. |
| 1:20.6 | It's a stone circle, a place for ritual and the dead. |
| 1:26.6 | But this stone circle is being built thousands of miles away on another group of islands. |
| 1:32.3 | We know them today as Japan. |
| 1:35.3 | It's the Ancients on History Hit. |
| 1:39.3 | I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and today we're exploring the story of prehistoric Japan. We're going to cover |
| 1:45.8 | tens of thousands of years of prehistory, from some of the earliest evidence for humans reaching |
| 1:51.4 | the Japanese archipelago some 50,000 years ago, to the fascinating Jermon culture, which lasted |
... |
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