Human skeletal remains from the Osaka castle site in Japan: metrics and weapon injuries

抄録

The purpose of this study is to report on the results of the observations of newly excavated human skeletons from the Osaka castle site and to explore the metric features and weapon injuries of the skeletons. Our study allows some tentative observations. First, based on analyses of the Q-mode correlation coefficient and Penrose’s shape distance, the Osaka castle skeletons are similar to medieval populations in terms of both cranial and dental crown measurements. Second, we found five sword cuts on the skull and on the axis of a male individual. It seems very likely that this individual was decapitated, since the skull with its upper cervical vertebrae was unaccompanied by any other postcranial skeletal elements. This is the first study that addresses the morphological features and weapon injuries of human skeletons at the transition from the medieval to early modern periods in the Kinki District.