From about 9,000 years ago Jomon people began to exploit the rich fishing resources available in the seas around them. During the Jomon period the coastline of the Japanese archipelago changed as sea-levels rose and fell, creating new bays and shallow lagoons, perfect for shellfish.
At this time many shell middens, piles of discarded mollusc shells, appeared around the coasts of Japan, storehouses of information about Jomon diet. Jomon fishermen developed increasingly sophisticated fishing methods, using nets, hook-and-line and harpoons. They sailed far offshore in dugout canoes to catch deep-sea fish.
Jomon people often lived in the place where they processed the shellfish, sometimes burying their dead in the shell layers.
Most Jomon settlements were quite small, two or three buildings being occupied at any one time, although some, like Sannai Maruyama, were much larger. Changes in pottery styles are used to date successive houses.
At Kainohana the central area of the settlement was used for rituals involving clay figurines and stone 'clubs' and 'swords'.
