Chronology of the Yayoi skeletal remains from the Kanto district, Japan: a preliminary re-evaluation by radiocarbon dating of postcranial material

Abstract

Radiocarbon ages were determined for 25 samples of human skeletal remains previously assigned or attributable to the Yayoi period (tentatively considered ca. 500 BC to 300 AD) of the Kanto district, Japan. Suzuki (1969) and others, predominantly on cranial morphology, recognized that the Kanto Yayoi series contains three morphological groups: the native Jomon, transitional, and Kofun types. Morphological variation of the Kanto Yayoi people was considered to be chronologically based and formed the basis of Suzuki’s transformation hypothesis of the origin of the Japanese, which assumed limited influence, in eastern Japan, from continental immigrants. The ¹⁴C dates of the present study, determined for fragmentary postcranial elements of the same general assemblage, showed that these ‘Yayoi’ series, in part, contain skeletal remains of different ages, including those attributable to the Jomon and Kofun periods. All specimens from the Sano site that were examined were found to most likely derive from the Jomon period, while the dated Ourayama and Iwatsubo remains are best interpreted to be of Yayoi age. The Awajinsha and Bishamon samples were found to be of mixed chronological compositions. The implications of these results are discussed.