Abstract
The whole skeleton was reconstructed for 10 male and 10 female Jomon individuals by a newly devised anatomical method using the skull, all vertebrae, hipbones, and lower limb bones including tarsal and metatarsal bones. After taking into account the thicknesses of soft tissues such as the scalp and the heel pad measured from dissecting room Japanese cadavers, living statures and lower limb lengths of the Jomon skeletons were estimated. Compared to the somatometric data of modern peoples from East Asia, Australia, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa, the mean statures of both male and female Jomon were less than those of the Australian, European, and African peoples and fell well within the variation range of East Asians. The mean lower limb/stature proportions of male and female Jomon were also smaller than those of the Australian Aborigine, Europeans, and Africans, however, they showed a tendency to be slightly larger than those of other East Asians and were similar to that of the Ainu in Hokkaido. Supposing that the limb proportion reflects the genetic background, we can consider the Jomon to have been related to peoples differing slightly from the "Classic Mongoloid" whose lower limb proportion is rather small, although we cannot negate East Asian origins of the Jomon.
