Before the firing of the pottery, jomon was engraved by pushing a tool - a stick with a twisted thread, and there were varieties of twisting - against the pottery's surface and by rolling the tool on it, and various patterns appeared depending on how the thread was twisted.
縄文は、棒に撚り紐をさまざまな形に巻き付けた施文具を焼成前の器面に押し当て、ころがすことによって生ずるもので、紐の巻き付け方によってさまざまな文様が生まれる。