Dental Characteristics Affinities of the Prehistoric to Modern Japanese with the East Asians, American Natives and Australo-Melanesians

Abstract

Dental characteristics of the prehistoric to modern Japanese were compared with those observed in the 23 Mongoloid samples including the American natives and Australo-Melanesians. The results of comparisons confirmed Turner's“Sinodonty”and“Sundadonty”classifications on the basis of the nonmetric trait pattern, with clarifying the metric features that most effectively discriminate between the two dental series. Taking both the metric and nonmetric traits affinities into consideration of the population relationships, it was concluded that the Aeneolithic Northern Kyushu Yayoi people and the subsequent mainland Japanese are closely related to the Urga Mongolians and Northern Chinese. This finding supports the hypothesis that the Yayoi immigrants originated from the Northeast Asian stock. On the other hand, the closest affinity of the Jomon natives was shown in the Neolithic Thai among the overseas samples compared, implying that the Jomon natives and such prehistoric Southeast Asians were derived from common ancestry who inhabited somewhere in East Asia.