The Jōmon period (縄文時代 Jōmon-jidai - lit. "period of patterns of plaited cord"?) lasted from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC. The first signs of civilization and stable living patterns appeared around 14,000 BC with the Jōmon culture, characterized by a mesolithic to neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle of wood stilt house and pit dwelling and a rudimentary form of agriculture. Weaving was still unknown and clothes were often made of fur. The Jōmon people started to make clay vessels, decorated with patterns made by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks. Some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world may be found in Japan, based on radio-carbon dating, along with daggers, jade, combs made of shells, and other household items dated to the 11th millennium BC,[4] although the specific dating is disputed. Clay figures (dogu) were also excavated. The household items suggest trade routes existed with places as far away as Okinawa[citation needed]. DNA analysis suggests that the Ainu, an indigenous people that lived in Hokkaidō and the northern part of Honshū are descended from the Jōmon and thus represent descendants of the first inhabitants of Japan[citation needed].