Uncontacted contemporaries · 1,000 overlapping years

Vedic Civilization Jomon Culture

For 1,000 years — from 1,500 BCE to 500 BCE — both civilizations existed simultaneously. Neither this dataset nor the historical record shows any documented trade, war, or diplomatic contact between them.

14,000 BCE 300 BCE

Vedic Civilization

1,500 BCE–500 BCE

Jomon Culture

14,000 BCE–300 BCE

↑ Overlap begins, 1,500 BCE

Vedic Civilization

Northern Indian subcontinent

A pastoral and agrarian Iron Age culture that transmitted the Vedas orally for centuries before any writing system recorded them.

Jomon Culture

Japanese archipelago

A remarkably long-lived hunter-gatherer culture in Japan, notable for producing some of the world's earliest pottery long before agriculture took hold.

Vedic Civilization only

Bronze metallurgy
Iron metallurgy
Irrigation agriculture
Standing army
Astronomical record-keeping

Jomon Culture only

Long-distance trade
Seafaring