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Jōmon period
East Asia & PacificHeartland today: 
Japan
PeriodO ends the period about 800 BCE, while Wikipedia and the traditional chronology end it about 300 BCE. The gap follows the Yayoi dating dispute: radiocarbon dates from the National Museum of Japanese History (2003) put the first Yayoi rice farming in northern Kyushu at about 1000 to 800 BCE, and the older view puts it at about 300 BCE.
Began earlier than anything else in Who Was When (its dates are disputed). Lasted longer than anything else in Who Was When (its dates are disputed).
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Hunter-gatherer-fishers of the Japanese islands who made some of the world's earliest pottery, lived in large villages such as Sannai-Maruyama, and shaped cord-marked and flame-style vessels over about 13,000 years.
Also alive at the same time
Key events
Potters at Odai Yamamoto in Aomori make plain clay vessels, the earliest known pottery in Northeast AsiaDisputed
The Jomon Japan site guide dates the pottery to about 13,000 BCE. Wikipedia gives as early as about 14,500 BCE (16,500 years ago in calibrated radiocarbon years).
Sources
Also happening around
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The Kikai caldera erupts off southern Kyushu, the largest eruption in Japan in 10,000 years, and Tanegashima Island is left empty for several centuries
The date is about 7,300 years ago in calibrated radiocarbon years, so the calendar year is approximate.
Sources
Also happening around
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– Sannai-Maruyama in Aomori grows into a planned settlement of pit dwellings, pillared buildings and burial mounds
– Potters in the Shinano River valley of Niigata build flame-style vessels with tall, blazing rims
Sources
– Communities in Akita lay out the Oyu and Isedotai stone circles, rings of set stones used for ritual and burial
Sources
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