For our April session we learnt about Japanese culture and archaeology.  The session was led for us by MAYA helper Caroline Pathy Barker.  Our sessions usually concentrate on the archaeology of the British Isles so this was something really new and interesting for most of our members.  Caroline is involved with the Online Resource for Japanese Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (ORJACH).  She started out with a PowerPoint presentation about Japanese culture and history, followed by a short quiz to see if we were paying attention!  Caroline also brought along some Japanese archaeological artefacts for us to look at, including pottery, obsidian tools and replica Haniwa statues from burial mounds.

After break we made Japanese-style Jomon pots.  The Jomon period dates from 14,500 BC right up to around 300 BC so this style of pottery is really old.  We started out by coiling sausages of clay around a cardboard cup former, slowly building the coils up to around halfway up the cup.  We then smoothed the clay with water to get a nice smooth finish.  It was then time to decorate our pots, and Caroline had brought along a selection of objects that would have been used in the Jomon period – bamboo sticks, shells and woven string, which we pressed into the clay to make patterns.  Very effective!

The MAYANS took their pots home and after they have dried for a day or two they can remove the cardboard cup and end up with an authentic-looking Jomon pot.  A big thank you to Caroline for a really fun and interesting session!