Practical Literature List
A viewset for viewing and editing Practical Literatures.
GET /api/sc/practical-literatures/
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Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 7. §REF§ The most visually prominent type of these mounds is the monumental keyhole shaped tomb that spread from northern Kyushu to Kanto from the middle of the third century onwards. §REF§ Hirose, K. 1992. ‘Zenphkhenfun no Kinai hennen [Chronology of keyhole tombs in the Kinai]’. In Y. Kondh (ed.). Kinki-hen, pp. 24-6. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 221-226. §REF§ The large-sized keyhole shaped tombs have been interpreted as the burials of regional leaders. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 7. §REF§ Most of the largest keyhole shaped tumuli are distributed in the present-day Nara basin and Osaka plain of the Kansai region, which could have played a prominent political role in Japan during the Kofun period. §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ The Kofun period is sub-divided into three sub-periods: Early (250-400 CE), Middle (400-475 CE), and Late (475-710 CE). §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9. §REF§ This sub-division is based on changes in tomb structures and their assemblages, in settlement patterns and in ruling dynasties. In fact, the seat of the political centre shifted from Miwa, during the Early Kofun, to Kawachi, in the Middle Kofun, and finally to Asuka in the Late Kofun period. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Early Kofun period is characterized by the spatial distribution of many contemporaneous large keyhole shaped tumuli, which represent the presence of several different polities and regional leaders. §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 243. §REF§ In this period, bronze mirrors, beads of jasper and green tuff, <i>haniwa</i> vessels, iron weapons and tools were deposited in the large mounded tombs, which likely hosted the burial of a regional chief. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 259-264. §REF§ The burial chambers were either cists made of slate stone in oblong plan or vertical pitsdug on the top of the mound. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 249-250. §REF§ The political centre was Miwa, in the south-eastern Nara basin. Thi centres incorporated the Makimuku district, which housed the large Hashikaka keyhole-shaped tomb (280 m long), considered to be the burial place of the queen Himiko. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9. §REF§ The power was held at Miwa by the Sujin dynasty. §REF§ Kawamura, Y. 2004. ‘Shoki Wa seiken to tamazukuri shidan [Early Wa authority and bead production]’. Khkogaku Kenkyi 50 (4): 55-75. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9-10. §REF§ <br>The Middle Kofun period is characterized by the spread of large keyhole-shaped mounds in the Osaka Plains.The grave assemblage met substantial change: bronze mirrors and fine beadstone objects were no longer deposited. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 260-263. §REF§ Instead, the amount of iron deposited in the tombs in form of weapons and/or tools increased. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ Beads, armlets and talismans begant to be made of talc, and they were not only deposited in burials but also used in landscape rituals. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 262. §REF§ §REF§ Barnes, G., 2006. ‘Ritualized beadstone in Kofun-period society’. East Asia Journal: studies in material culture 2(1). §REF§ §REF§ Kaner, Simon. \"The Archaeology of Religion and Ritual in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago.\" The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion (2011): 457-469. §REF§ Horse trappings, gilt-bronze ornaments and gold jewellery began being deposited in the grave assemblage of large burial mounds. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ In this period, the power was exerted by the Ojin dynasty in the centre of Kawachi, in the east central Osaka prefecture. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ <br>In the Late Kofun Period the size of the burial mounds decreased significantly and the construction of large keyhole-shaped tumuli ceased, except for the Kanto region. Thereafter, the tumuli of the regional leaders were downsized and built in a rectangular and square shape. §REF§ Shiraishi, T., 1999. ‘Kofun kara mita yamato Hken to Azuma [Viewing Yamato kingly authority and the eastern provinces from mounded tombs]’. Khkai khkogaku khza, pp. 15-17 (conference pamphlet). Maebashi: Gunma-ken Maizhbunkazai Chhsajigyhdan. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10-11. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 297-298. §REF§ This decline was followed by the proliferation of clusters of small round tumuli called \"packed tumuli clusters\". §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 298. §REF§ They have been interpreted as the result of the emulation of the chiefly habits by powerful extended family-scale groupings. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 298-299. §REF§ In this period were also introduced the corridor-chamber tombs and the cliff-cut cave tombs. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 14. §REF§ The power was held by the Keitai dinasty in the centre of Asuka, in southern Nara prefecture. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10, 14. §REF§ The introduction of Buddhism in 552 CE, determined a new Buddhism-based culture in the area. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 14. §REF§ <br>We have estimated the population of Kansai to be between 150,000 and 200,000 people in 300 CE, and between 1.5 million and 2 million by 500 CE. An estimated 16.8% of the Japanese population lived in Kansai from 250-599 CE. §REF§ Kidder, J. E., 2007. Himiko and Japan's elusive chiefdom of Yamatai: archaeology, history, and mythology. University of Hawaii Press, 60. §REF§ §REF§ Koyama, S., 1978. Jomon Subsistence and Population. Senri Ethnological Studies 2. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 21, "name": "Kansai", "subregion": "Northeast Asia", "longitude": "135.762200000000", "latitude": "35.025280000000", "capital_city": "Kyoto", "nga_code": "JP", "fao_country": "Japan", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 14, "name": "Northeast Asia", "subregions_list": "Korea, Japan, forest part of Manchuria, Russian Far East", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 233, "year_from": 300, "year_to": 499, "description": " \"Historical sources report that by A.D. 500 the Jujan were actively adopting a variety of Chinese influences, including the use of written Chinese for official records.\" §REF§(Rogers 2012, 224)§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "practical_literature", "practical_literature": "absent", "polity": { "id": 278, "name": "MnRourn", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 555, "long_name": "Rouran Khaganate", "new_name": "mn_rouran_khaganate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Orkhon Valley lies either side of the Orkhon River, in north-central Mongolia. Between about 300 and 550 CE, it was under the control of the Rouran. Though these began as nomadic pastoralists like their predecessors the Xianbei and Xiongnu, there is evidence that by the sixth century CE they had transitioned to a settled, agricultural way of life, and from shamanism to Buddhism. §REF§ (Kyzlasov 1996, 317) §REF§ At their peak, they ruled over an empire comprising around 4,000,000 squared kilometers, §REF§ (Rogers 2012, 220-221) §REF§ with a population of no less than 500,000. §REF§ (Kradin 2005, 165) §REF§ This empire was divided into an eastern and a western wing, each ruled by a silifa, who were subordinate to the paramount ruler or khagan. §REF§ (Kradin 2005, 162) §REF§ For ease of organisation, both the population and the army were divided into groups of hundreds and thousands. §REF§ (Kradin 2005, 154-155) §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2023-10-23T17:31:41.156401Z", "home_nga": { "id": 24, "name": "Orkhon Valley", "subregion": "Mongolia", "longitude": "102.845486000000", "latitude": "47.200757000000", "capital_city": "Karakorum", "nga_code": "MN", "fao_country": "Mongolia", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 9, "name": "Mongolia", "subregions_list": "Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, the steppe part of Manchuria", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 203, "year_from": 399, "year_to": 449, "description": " \"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.\"§REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§ e.g. used by government", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": true, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "practical_literature", "practical_literature": "absent", "polity": { "id": 145, "name": "JpKofun", "start_year": 250, "end_year": 537, "long_name": "Kansai - Kofun Period", "new_name": "jp_kofun", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Kofun period is commonly defined by the emergence and spread of mounded tombs, from which derive the word <i>Kofun</i> meaning \"old tumulus\"(Ko (=ancient) + fun(=tumulus)). §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 7. §REF§ The most visually prominent type of these mounds is the monumental keyhole shaped tomb that spread from northern Kyushu to Kanto from the middle of the third century onwards. §REF§ Hirose, K. 1992. ‘Zenphkhenfun no Kinai hennen [Chronology of keyhole tombs in the Kinai]’. In Y. Kondh (ed.). Kinki-hen, pp. 24-6. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 221-226. §REF§ The large-sized keyhole shaped tombs have been interpreted as the burials of regional leaders. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 7. §REF§ Most of the largest keyhole shaped tumuli are distributed in the present-day Nara basin and Osaka plain of the Kansai region, which could have played a prominent political role in Japan during the Kofun period. §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ The Kofun period is sub-divided into three sub-periods: Early (250-400 CE), Middle (400-475 CE), and Late (475-710 CE). §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9. §REF§ This sub-division is based on changes in tomb structures and their assemblages, in settlement patterns and in ruling dynasties. In fact, the seat of the political centre shifted from Miwa, during the Early Kofun, to Kawachi, in the Middle Kofun, and finally to Asuka in the Late Kofun period. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Early Kofun period is characterized by the spatial distribution of many contemporaneous large keyhole shaped tumuli, which represent the presence of several different polities and regional leaders. §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 243. §REF§ In this period, bronze mirrors, beads of jasper and green tuff, <i>haniwa</i> vessels, iron weapons and tools were deposited in the large mounded tombs, which likely hosted the burial of a regional chief. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 259-264. §REF§ The burial chambers were either cists made of slate stone in oblong plan or vertical pitsdug on the top of the mound. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 249-250. §REF§ The political centre was Miwa, in the south-eastern Nara basin. Thi centres incorporated the Makimuku district, which housed the large Hashikaka keyhole-shaped tomb (280 m long), considered to be the burial place of the queen Himiko. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9. §REF§ The power was held at Miwa by the Sujin dynasty. §REF§ Kawamura, Y. 2004. ‘Shoki Wa seiken to tamazukuri shidan [Early Wa authority and bead production]’. Khkogaku Kenkyi 50 (4): 55-75. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9-10. §REF§ <br>The Middle Kofun period is characterized by the spread of large keyhole-shaped mounds in the Osaka Plains.The grave assemblage met substantial change: bronze mirrors and fine beadstone objects were no longer deposited. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 260-263. §REF§ Instead, the amount of iron deposited in the tombs in form of weapons and/or tools increased. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ Beads, armlets and talismans begant to be made of talc, and they were not only deposited in burials but also used in landscape rituals. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 262. §REF§ §REF§ Barnes, G., 2006. ‘Ritualized beadstone in Kofun-period society’. East Asia Journal: studies in material culture 2(1). §REF§ §REF§ Kaner, Simon. \"The Archaeology of Religion and Ritual in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago.\" The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion (2011): 457-469. §REF§ Horse trappings, gilt-bronze ornaments and gold jewellery began being deposited in the grave assemblage of large burial mounds. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ In this period, the power was exerted by the Ojin dynasty in the centre of Kawachi, in the east central Osaka prefecture. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ <br>In the Late Kofun Period the size of the burial mounds decreased significantly and the construction of large keyhole-shaped tumuli ceased, except for the Kanto region. Thereafter, the tumuli of the regional leaders were downsized and built in a rectangular and square shape. §REF§ Shiraishi, T., 1999. ‘Kofun kara mita yamato Hken to Azuma [Viewing Yamato kingly authority and the eastern provinces from mounded tombs]’. Khkai khkogaku khza, pp. 15-17 (conference pamphlet). Maebashi: Gunma-ken Maizhbunkazai Chhsajigyhdan. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10-11. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 297-298. §REF§ This decline was followed by the proliferation of clusters of small round tumuli called \"packed tumuli clusters\". §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 298. §REF§ They have been interpreted as the result of the emulation of the chiefly habits by powerful extended family-scale groupings. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 298-299. §REF§ In this period were also introduced the corridor-chamber tombs and the cliff-cut cave tombs. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 14. §REF§ The power was held by the Keitai dinasty in the centre of Asuka, in southern Nara prefecture. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10, 14. §REF§ The introduction of Buddhism in 552 CE, determined a new Buddhism-based culture in the area. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 14. §REF§ <br>We have estimated the population of Kansai to be between 150,000 and 200,000 people in 300 CE, and between 1.5 million and 2 million by 500 CE. An estimated 16.8% of the Japanese population lived in Kansai from 250-599 CE. §REF§ Kidder, J. E., 2007. Himiko and Japan's elusive chiefdom of Yamatai: archaeology, history, and mythology. University of Hawaii Press, 60. §REF§ §REF§ Koyama, S., 1978. Jomon Subsistence and Population. Senri Ethnological Studies 2. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 21, "name": "Kansai", "subregion": "Northeast Asia", "longitude": "135.762200000000", "latitude": "35.025280000000", "capital_city": "Kyoto", "nga_code": "JP", "fao_country": "Japan", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 14, "name": "Northeast Asia", "subregions_list": "Korea, Japan, forest part of Manchuria, Russian Far East", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 202, "year_from": 399, "year_to": 449, "description": " \"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.\"§REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§ e.g. used by government", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": true, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "practical_literature", "practical_literature": "present", "polity": { "id": 145, "name": "JpKofun", "start_year": 250, "end_year": 537, "long_name": "Kansai - Kofun Period", "new_name": "jp_kofun", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Kofun period is commonly defined by the emergence and spread of mounded tombs, from which derive the word <i>Kofun</i> meaning \"old tumulus\"(Ko (=ancient) + fun(=tumulus)). §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 7. §REF§ The most visually prominent type of these mounds is the monumental keyhole shaped tomb that spread from northern Kyushu to Kanto from the middle of the third century onwards. §REF§ Hirose, K. 1992. ‘Zenphkhenfun no Kinai hennen [Chronology of keyhole tombs in the Kinai]’. In Y. Kondh (ed.). Kinki-hen, pp. 24-6. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 221-226. §REF§ The large-sized keyhole shaped tombs have been interpreted as the burials of regional leaders. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 7. §REF§ Most of the largest keyhole shaped tumuli are distributed in the present-day Nara basin and Osaka plain of the Kansai region, which could have played a prominent political role in Japan during the Kofun period. §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ The Kofun period is sub-divided into three sub-periods: Early (250-400 CE), Middle (400-475 CE), and Late (475-710 CE). §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9. §REF§ This sub-division is based on changes in tomb structures and their assemblages, in settlement patterns and in ruling dynasties. In fact, the seat of the political centre shifted from Miwa, during the Early Kofun, to Kawachi, in the Middle Kofun, and finally to Asuka in the Late Kofun period. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Early Kofun period is characterized by the spatial distribution of many contemporaneous large keyhole shaped tumuli, which represent the presence of several different polities and regional leaders. §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 243. §REF§ In this period, bronze mirrors, beads of jasper and green tuff, <i>haniwa</i> vessels, iron weapons and tools were deposited in the large mounded tombs, which likely hosted the burial of a regional chief. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 259-264. §REF§ The burial chambers were either cists made of slate stone in oblong plan or vertical pitsdug on the top of the mound. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 249-250. §REF§ The political centre was Miwa, in the south-eastern Nara basin. Thi centres incorporated the Makimuku district, which housed the large Hashikaka keyhole-shaped tomb (280 m long), considered to be the burial place of the queen Himiko. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9. §REF§ The power was held at Miwa by the Sujin dynasty. §REF§ Kawamura, Y. 2004. ‘Shoki Wa seiken to tamazukuri shidan [Early Wa authority and bead production]’. Khkogaku Kenkyi 50 (4): 55-75. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9-10. §REF§ <br>The Middle Kofun period is characterized by the spread of large keyhole-shaped mounds in the Osaka Plains.The grave assemblage met substantial change: bronze mirrors and fine beadstone objects were no longer deposited. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 260-263. §REF§ Instead, the amount of iron deposited in the tombs in form of weapons and/or tools increased. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ Beads, armlets and talismans begant to be made of talc, and they were not only deposited in burials but also used in landscape rituals. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 262. §REF§ §REF§ Barnes, G., 2006. ‘Ritualized beadstone in Kofun-period society’. East Asia Journal: studies in material culture 2(1). §REF§ §REF§ Kaner, Simon. \"The Archaeology of Religion and Ritual in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago.\" The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion (2011): 457-469. §REF§ Horse trappings, gilt-bronze ornaments and gold jewellery began being deposited in the grave assemblage of large burial mounds. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ In this period, the power was exerted by the Ojin dynasty in the centre of Kawachi, in the east central Osaka prefecture. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ <br>In the Late Kofun Period the size of the burial mounds decreased significantly and the construction of large keyhole-shaped tumuli ceased, except for the Kanto region. Thereafter, the tumuli of the regional leaders were downsized and built in a rectangular and square shape. §REF§ Shiraishi, T., 1999. ‘Kofun kara mita yamato Hken to Azuma [Viewing Yamato kingly authority and the eastern provinces from mounded tombs]’. Khkai khkogaku khza, pp. 15-17 (conference pamphlet). Maebashi: Gunma-ken Maizhbunkazai Chhsajigyhdan. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10-11. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 297-298. §REF§ This decline was followed by the proliferation of clusters of small round tumuli called \"packed tumuli clusters\". §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 298. §REF§ They have been interpreted as the result of the emulation of the chiefly habits by powerful extended family-scale groupings. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 298-299. §REF§ In this period were also introduced the corridor-chamber tombs and the cliff-cut cave tombs. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 14. §REF§ The power was held by the Keitai dinasty in the centre of Asuka, in southern Nara prefecture. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10, 14. §REF§ The introduction of Buddhism in 552 CE, determined a new Buddhism-based culture in the area. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 14. §REF§ <br>We have estimated the population of Kansai to be between 150,000 and 200,000 people in 300 CE, and between 1.5 million and 2 million by 500 CE. An estimated 16.8% of the Japanese population lived in Kansai from 250-599 CE. §REF§ Kidder, J. E., 2007. Himiko and Japan's elusive chiefdom of Yamatai: archaeology, history, and mythology. University of Hawaii Press, 60. §REF§ §REF§ Koyama, S., 1978. Jomon Subsistence and Population. Senri Ethnological Studies 2. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 21, "name": "Kansai", "subregion": "Northeast Asia", "longitude": "135.762200000000", "latitude": "35.025280000000", "capital_city": "Kyoto", "nga_code": "JP", "fao_country": "Japan", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 14, "name": "Northeast Asia", "subregions_list": "Korea, Japan, forest part of Manchuria, Russian Far East", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 204, "year_from": 450, "year_to": 537, "description": "\"To all appearances, writing as such, in the form of Chinese Classics, was introduced into Japan early in the fifth century as part of the great cultural influx from Paekche.\"§REF§(Frellesvig 2010, 11)§REF§ e.g. used by government", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2023-08-02T13:10:40.588960Z", "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "practical_literature", "practical_literature": "present", "polity": { "id": 145, "name": "JpKofun", "start_year": 250, "end_year": 537, "long_name": "Kansai - Kofun Period", "new_name": "jp_kofun", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Kofun period is commonly defined by the emergence and spread of mounded tombs, from which derive the word <i>Kofun</i> meaning \"old tumulus\"(Ko (=ancient) + fun(=tumulus)). §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 7. §REF§ The most visually prominent type of these mounds is the monumental keyhole shaped tomb that spread from northern Kyushu to Kanto from the middle of the third century onwards. §REF§ Hirose, K. 1992. ‘Zenphkhenfun no Kinai hennen [Chronology of keyhole tombs in the Kinai]’. In Y. Kondh (ed.). Kinki-hen, pp. 24-6. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 221-226. §REF§ The large-sized keyhole shaped tombs have been interpreted as the burials of regional leaders. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 7. §REF§ Most of the largest keyhole shaped tumuli are distributed in the present-day Nara basin and Osaka plain of the Kansai region, which could have played a prominent political role in Japan during the Kofun period. §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ The Kofun period is sub-divided into three sub-periods: Early (250-400 CE), Middle (400-475 CE), and Late (475-710 CE). §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9. §REF§ This sub-division is based on changes in tomb structures and their assemblages, in settlement patterns and in ruling dynasties. In fact, the seat of the political centre shifted from Miwa, during the Early Kofun, to Kawachi, in the Middle Kofun, and finally to Asuka in the Late Kofun period. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Early Kofun period is characterized by the spatial distribution of many contemporaneous large keyhole shaped tumuli, which represent the presence of several different polities and regional leaders. §REF§ Mizoguchi, K., 2009.Nodes and edges: A network approach to hierarchisation and state formation in Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28, 15. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 243. §REF§ In this period, bronze mirrors, beads of jasper and green tuff, <i>haniwa</i> vessels, iron weapons and tools were deposited in the large mounded tombs, which likely hosted the burial of a regional chief. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 259-264. §REF§ The burial chambers were either cists made of slate stone in oblong plan or vertical pitsdug on the top of the mound. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 249-250. §REF§ The political centre was Miwa, in the south-eastern Nara basin. Thi centres incorporated the Makimuku district, which housed the large Hashikaka keyhole-shaped tomb (280 m long), considered to be the burial place of the queen Himiko. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9. §REF§ The power was held at Miwa by the Sujin dynasty. §REF§ Kawamura, Y. 2004. ‘Shoki Wa seiken to tamazukuri shidan [Early Wa authority and bead production]’. Khkogaku Kenkyi 50 (4): 55-75. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 9-10. §REF§ <br>The Middle Kofun period is characterized by the spread of large keyhole-shaped mounds in the Osaka Plains.The grave assemblage met substantial change: bronze mirrors and fine beadstone objects were no longer deposited. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 260-263. §REF§ Instead, the amount of iron deposited in the tombs in form of weapons and/or tools increased. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ Beads, armlets and talismans begant to be made of talc, and they were not only deposited in burials but also used in landscape rituals. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 262. §REF§ §REF§ Barnes, G., 2006. ‘Ritualized beadstone in Kofun-period society’. East Asia Journal: studies in material culture 2(1). §REF§ §REF§ Kaner, Simon. \"The Archaeology of Religion and Ritual in the Prehistoric Japanese Archipelago.\" The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion (2011): 457-469. §REF§ Horse trappings, gilt-bronze ornaments and gold jewellery began being deposited in the grave assemblage of large burial mounds. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ In this period, the power was exerted by the Ojin dynasty in the centre of Kawachi, in the east central Osaka prefecture. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10. §REF§ <br>In the Late Kofun Period the size of the burial mounds decreased significantly and the construction of large keyhole-shaped tumuli ceased, except for the Kanto region. Thereafter, the tumuli of the regional leaders were downsized and built in a rectangular and square shape. §REF§ Shiraishi, T., 1999. ‘Kofun kara mita yamato Hken to Azuma [Viewing Yamato kingly authority and the eastern provinces from mounded tombs]’. Khkai khkogaku khza, pp. 15-17 (conference pamphlet). Maebashi: Gunma-ken Maizhbunkazai Chhsajigyhdan. §REF§ §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10-11. §REF§ §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 297-298. §REF§ This decline was followed by the proliferation of clusters of small round tumuli called \"packed tumuli clusters\". §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 298. §REF§ They have been interpreted as the result of the emulation of the chiefly habits by powerful extended family-scale groupings. §REF§ K. Mizoguchi, 2013. The Archaeology of Japan. From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 298-299. §REF§ In this period were also introduced the corridor-chamber tombs and the cliff-cut cave tombs. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 14. §REF§ The power was held by the Keitai dinasty in the centre of Asuka, in southern Nara prefecture. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 10, 14. §REF§ The introduction of Buddhism in 552 CE, determined a new Buddhism-based culture in the area. §REF§ G. Barnes, 2007. State formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-century ruling elite. Routledge, 14. §REF§ <br>We have estimated the population of Kansai to be between 150,000 and 200,000 people in 300 CE, and between 1.5 million and 2 million by 500 CE. An estimated 16.8% of the Japanese population lived in Kansai from 250-599 CE. §REF§ Kidder, J. E., 2007. Himiko and Japan's elusive chiefdom of Yamatai: archaeology, history, and mythology. University of Hawaii Press, 60. §REF§ §REF§ Koyama, S., 1978. Jomon Subsistence and Population. Senri Ethnological Studies 2. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 21, "name": "Kansai", "subregion": "Northeast Asia", "longitude": "135.762200000000", "latitude": "35.025280000000", "capital_city": "Kyoto", "nga_code": "JP", "fao_country": "Japan", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 14, "name": "Northeast Asia", "subregions_list": "Korea, Japan, forest part of Manchuria, Russian Far East", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 234, "year_from": 500, "year_to": 555, "description": " \"Historical sources report that by A.D. 500 the Jujan were actively adopting a variety of Chinese influences, including the use of written Chinese for official records.\" §REF§(Rogers 2012, 224)§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "practical_literature", "practical_literature": "present", "polity": { "id": 278, "name": "MnRourn", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 555, "long_name": "Rouran Khaganate", "new_name": "mn_rouran_khaganate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Orkhon Valley lies either side of the Orkhon River, in north-central Mongolia. Between about 300 and 550 CE, it was under the control of the Rouran. Though these began as nomadic pastoralists like their predecessors the Xianbei and Xiongnu, there is evidence that by the sixth century CE they had transitioned to a settled, agricultural way of life, and from shamanism to Buddhism. §REF§ (Kyzlasov 1996, 317) §REF§ At their peak, they ruled over an empire comprising around 4,000,000 squared kilometers, §REF§ (Rogers 2012, 220-221) §REF§ with a population of no less than 500,000. §REF§ (Kradin 2005, 165) §REF§ This empire was divided into an eastern and a western wing, each ruled by a silifa, who were subordinate to the paramount ruler or khagan. §REF§ (Kradin 2005, 162) §REF§ For ease of organisation, both the population and the army were divided into groups of hundreds and thousands. §REF§ (Kradin 2005, 154-155) §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2023-10-23T17:31:41.156401Z", "home_nga": { "id": 24, "name": "Orkhon Valley", "subregion": "Mongolia", "longitude": "102.845486000000", "latitude": "47.200757000000", "capital_city": "Karakorum", "nga_code": "MN", "fao_country": "Mongolia", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 9, "name": "Mongolia", "subregions_list": "Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, the steppe part of Manchuria", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 170, "year_from": 930, "year_to": 1100, "description": " 'There were essays on how to write in Icelandic. There are many little known texts, some collected in ‘Alfræði íslenzk’. These include instructions in medicine and how to make religious statues (líkneski).' §REF§Árni Daniel Júlíusson and Axel Kristissen 2017, pers. comm. to E. Brandl and D. Mullins§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "practical_literature", "practical_literature": "absent", "polity": { "id": 115, "name": "IsCommw", "start_year": 930, "end_year": 1262, "long_name": "Icelandic Commonwealth", "new_name": "is_icelandic_commonwealth", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "Settlers arrived in Iceland in significant numbers starting from the late 9th century CE, mostly from Norway and the Norse colonies in Scotland and Ireland, bringing with them many people indigenous to the latter. However, language and culture were strongly Norse.<br>The Icelandic Commonwealth (Icel. <i>íslenska þjóðveldið</i>), occasionally called 'free state' or 'republic' (not to be confused with the modern republic) was established in 930 CE according to 12th-century historical documents. It was the first polity to cover the whole of Iceland and the smaller surrounding islands. Its territory did not change during its lifetime.<br>Icelandic society during the Commonwealth was strongly rural and never developed significant urbanization. However, centres of power, wealth and learning gradually emerged in the two bishoprics, monasteries and the homes of the greatest secular lords.<br>Iceland was mostly pagan in the early period but Christianity was accepted in 1000 and the first bishopric established in 1056. This not only brought Iceland closer to Europe but also introduced European culture and learning, and from the early 12th century the Icelanders started to produce significant works of literature in the vernacular but written in the Latin alphabet (sagas). The sagas are usually (at least recently) considered the greatest achievement of the Commonwealth and they flourished in the 13th century (both before and after 1262). However, this was also a time of war and loss of independence, making it difficult to assign it a 'peak' status.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>There are no reliable figures for the total population in Iceland during this period. Common estimates range from 5,000-20,000 in 930 to 40,000-70,000 at the end. The only statistic that is somewhat reliable states that the number of tax-paying farmers around 1100 AD was 4,560. The relationship between this number and the whole population is uncertain.<br>The Commonwealth functioned as a federation of smaller political units with no fixed borders, the godords/chieftaincies (<i>goðorð</i>), with alliances between households led by a chieftain (<i>goði</i> or <i>goðorðsmaður</i>). Laws were common to all and there was a common judiciary system. In Lögrétta leaders of all the godords met once a year to decide on laws, forming the most important part of the proceedings of the <i>Alþingi</i> ('general assembly'), held in summer at Thingvellir. However, there was no common executive branch of government, leaving the godords quite autonomous.<br>The godords started to congeal into territorial lordships with fixed borders in the 12th century (the first one perhaps in the late 11th century), but this process was most rapid around 1200 CE and by 1220 they covered most of Iceland. These lordships functioned as practically independent tiny polities (or 'proto-states') and proceeded to fight each other for supremacy. The ensuing civil wars (<i>Sturlungaöld</i>) ended in 1262 when the Icelanders swore allegiance to the Norwegian crown.<br><i>This description was provided by Axel Kristinsson and edited by Jenny Reddish.</i>", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 3, "name": "Iceland", "subregion": "Northern Europe", "longitude": "-21.891497000000", "latitude": "64.133088000000", "capital_city": "Reykjavik", "nga_code": "IS", "fao_country": "Iceland", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 17, "name": "Northern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iceland, Scandinavia, Finland, Baltics", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 171, "year_from": 1101, "year_to": 1262, "description": " 'There were essays on how to write in Icelandic. There are many little known texts, some collected in ‘Alfræði íslenzk’. These include instructions in medicine and how to make religious statues (líkneski).' §REF§Árni Daniel Júlíusson and Axel Kristissen 2017, pers. comm. to E. Brandl and D. Mullins§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "practical_literature", "practical_literature": "present", "polity": { "id": 115, "name": "IsCommw", "start_year": 930, "end_year": 1262, "long_name": "Icelandic Commonwealth", "new_name": "is_icelandic_commonwealth", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "Settlers arrived in Iceland in significant numbers starting from the late 9th century CE, mostly from Norway and the Norse colonies in Scotland and Ireland, bringing with them many people indigenous to the latter. However, language and culture were strongly Norse.<br>The Icelandic Commonwealth (Icel. <i>íslenska þjóðveldið</i>), occasionally called 'free state' or 'republic' (not to be confused with the modern republic) was established in 930 CE according to 12th-century historical documents. It was the first polity to cover the whole of Iceland and the smaller surrounding islands. Its territory did not change during its lifetime.<br>Icelandic society during the Commonwealth was strongly rural and never developed significant urbanization. However, centres of power, wealth and learning gradually emerged in the two bishoprics, monasteries and the homes of the greatest secular lords.<br>Iceland was mostly pagan in the early period but Christianity was accepted in 1000 and the first bishopric established in 1056. This not only brought Iceland closer to Europe but also introduced European culture and learning, and from the early 12th century the Icelanders started to produce significant works of literature in the vernacular but written in the Latin alphabet (sagas). The sagas are usually (at least recently) considered the greatest achievement of the Commonwealth and they flourished in the 13th century (both before and after 1262). However, this was also a time of war and loss of independence, making it difficult to assign it a 'peak' status.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>There are no reliable figures for the total population in Iceland during this period. Common estimates range from 5,000-20,000 in 930 to 40,000-70,000 at the end. The only statistic that is somewhat reliable states that the number of tax-paying farmers around 1100 AD was 4,560. The relationship between this number and the whole population is uncertain.<br>The Commonwealth functioned as a federation of smaller political units with no fixed borders, the godords/chieftaincies (<i>goðorð</i>), with alliances between households led by a chieftain (<i>goði</i> or <i>goðorðsmaður</i>). Laws were common to all and there was a common judiciary system. In Lögrétta leaders of all the godords met once a year to decide on laws, forming the most important part of the proceedings of the <i>Alþingi</i> ('general assembly'), held in summer at Thingvellir. However, there was no common executive branch of government, leaving the godords quite autonomous.<br>The godords started to congeal into territorial lordships with fixed borders in the 12th century (the first one perhaps in the late 11th century), but this process was most rapid around 1200 CE and by 1220 they covered most of Iceland. These lordships functioned as practically independent tiny polities (or 'proto-states') and proceeded to fight each other for supremacy. The ensuing civil wars (<i>Sturlungaöld</i>) ended in 1262 when the Icelanders swore allegiance to the Norwegian crown.<br><i>This description was provided by Axel Kristinsson and edited by Jenny Reddish.</i>", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 3, "name": "Iceland", "subregion": "Northern Europe", "longitude": "-21.891497000000", "latitude": "64.133088000000", "capital_city": "Reykjavik", "nga_code": "IS", "fao_country": "Iceland", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 17, "name": "Northern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iceland, Scandinavia, Finland, Baltics", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 383, "year_from": 1650, "year_to": 1832, "description": "The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. \"The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4).\"§REF§(Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.§REF§", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2023-08-24T10:29:14.174164Z", "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": false, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "Practical_literature", "practical_literature": "absent", "polity": { "id": 607, "name": "si_early_modern_interior", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1896, "long_name": "Early Modern Sierra Leone", "new_name": "si_early_modern_interior", "polity_tag": "POL_AFR_WEST", "general_description": "", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-11T13:46:08.183001Z", "home_nga": null, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 7, "name": "West Africa", "subregions_list": "From Senegal to Gabon (Tropical)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 385, "year_from": 1700, "year_to": 1859, "description": " Islamic texts. \"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. 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