Kinship analysis of the Jomon skeletons unearthed from a double burial at the Usu-Moshiri site, Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract

Kinship analysis was performed on a Jomon double burial from the Usu-Moshiri site in Hokkaido, Japan, using odontometric data in conjunction with mitochondrial DNA data. Q-mode correlations with respect to tooth crown measurements indicated a low similarity between the two adult female skeletons found from this burial. Moreover, mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that these individuals were not maternal relatives. Consequently, judging from both morphological and genetic evidence, these skeletons are more likely to have been unrelated rather than consanguineous. This is the first report that provides anthropological evidence for a lack of kinship of skeletons discovered from a Jomon double burial.