For your consideration are these Jomon Period Pottery Artifacts from Morioka City vicinity, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, circa 2500 B. C. to 5000 B. C., which was a period of Japanese prehistory that lasted over ten thousand years and corresponds with the European Stone Age. Potsherds found from the Japanese archipelago are among the earliest pottery vessels across the globe. Collected by Dr. Charles Yates at different archaeological sites in Japan, 1990. Provenance: the Owen D. Mort, Jr. Collection. Owen David Mort was an American engineer who amassed an impressive collection throughout his worldwide travels. His collection has included art, artifacts and other historical items from which he has donated to museums at the University of Utah and the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, including African, Afghan and Asian artifacts. The Jomon period, which encompasses a great expanse of time, constitutes Japan’s Neolithic period. Its name is derived from the “cord markings” that characterize the ceramics made during this time. The many excavations of Jomon sites have added to our knowledge of specific artifacts. All Jomon pots were made by hand, without the aid of a wheel, the potter building up the vessel from the bottom with coil upon coil of soft clay. As in all other Neolithic cultures, women produced these early potteries. Because the Jomon period lasted so long and is so culturally diverse, historians and archaeologists often divide it into the following phases: Incipient (ca. 10,500-8000 B.C.), Initial (ca. 8000-5000 B.C.), Early (ca. 5000-2500 B.C.), Middle (ca. 2500-1500 B.C.), Late (ca. 1500-1000 B.C.), and Final (ca. 1000-300 B.C.). These fragments have been estimated to the Early, Middle, and Late Jomon phases. Evidence of the "cord markings" are visible upon inspection. Eleven total fragments, largest fragment is 2"W x 3"L, smallest is .75"W x 1"L.*