The Jomon peoples of northern Japan were unusual among foraging societies for being great monument builders. They constructed a range of such sites, including stone circles, settings of wooden pillars, shell middens, and bank-enclosed cemeteries or embankments containing large quantities of material remains, all of which represented an ability to undertake significant investments in labour and probably also a high degree of forward planning.

But how and why were these monuments built? On this episode of The PastCast, Simon Kaner examines what these enigmatic structures can tell us about a key period of Japanese prehistory.

The Jomon stone circles are also the subject of an article in the latest issue of Current World Archaeology magazine, which is out now in the UK and next month in the US. It is also available to read in full on The Past website. On this episode, Simon spoke with regular PastCast presenter Calum Henderson.

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The exhibition, Circles of Stone: Stonehenge and Prehistoric Japan is at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre until August 2023. More information about Jomon archaeology is included in An Illustrated Companion to Japanese Archaeology edited by Werner Steinhaus, Simon Kaner, Shinya Shoda, and Megumi Jinno. Details about the Jomon Sites of Northern Japan UNESCO World Heritage designation can be found here.