Skeletal Remains of Domestic Dogs from Jomon and Yayoi Sites in Kagoshima Prefecture

Abstract

Dog bones excavated from 11 Jomon and 2 Yayoi sites in Kagoshima Prefecture were investigated morphologically and osteometrically. The late and final Jomon sites (3, 500-2, 500 BP) were shell mounds at Izumi, Euchi, Ichiki, Muginoura, Kusano, Ushuku, Omonawa I, and Inutabu, cave sites at Katano and Kurokawa, and a site at Uwaigusuku. The early Yayoi sites (2, 300-2, 000 BP) were the Takahashi shell mound and a cave site at Atake. The total excavated pieces of bone numbered 373;102 from the Inutabu shell mound, 83 from the Kusano shell mound, 82 from the Euchi shell mound, and the rest from the other sites. Most pieces were from adult dogs, but some from Euchi, Ichiki, and Kusano shell mounds were from young dogs.
The morphological characters of the bones, as large as those of today's Shiba dog, were nearly similar at each site. The estimated withers height from the intact bone lengths was 35-43cm, showing that the dogs belonged to HASEBE's small-sized dog group.
It is suggested that in the late Jomon period, small dogs were already being kept by people throughout the entire area of Kagoshima, although a buried sample has not yet been found.