Abstract
Excavations at the Funadomari Site, located on Rebun Island, in northernmost Japan, have recovered 28 inhumation burials which date to the Late Jomon Period. The morphological characteristics of these skeletons, including metric and non-metric cranial traits, dental measurements, and limb bone measurements, are similar to other Jomon skeletal series from Honshu Island, Japan. However, analysis of cranial metric data reveals some peculiarities in the Funadomari specimens. Compared to the Honshu Jomon samples, the Funadomari skulls have slightly larger cranial vaults, lower facial skeletons, larger orbital openings, and wider mandibular rami. These distinctive cranial traits, as well as custom of tooth ablation of one of the upper lateral incisors in some individuals, are commonly found in the Jomon skeletal series from southwestern Hokkaido Island, suggesting that there has been both biological and cultural exchanges between the Jomon people of Rebun Island and those of southwestern Hokkaido Island.
