Abstract
The Yamoto tunnel burials in Miyagi Prefecture are ancient cemetery sites constructed from the middle 7th to the initial 9th century. In 2003, many tunnel burials were exposed by hill slope collapses caused by a large earthquake. Subsequent archaeological investigations revealed that numerous human skeletal remains were buried inside about 40 tunnels. These skeletons generally display lower faces, large frontal indices and little simotic indices. Results of Penrose’s shape distance analysis based on cranial and dental metrics and Fisher’s likelihood ratio test used for cranial non-metric traits showed that many individuals were similar to the North Kyushu/Yamaguchi Yayoi, protohistoric Kofun, and modern Japanese people. However, some materials from burial No. 64 resembled those of the prehistoric Jomon, Epi-Jomon, and Ainu of Hokkaido Island. In addition, Penrose’s shape distance analysis indicated that cranial feature of the Yamoto people were slightly different from that of people from contemporary and neighboring tunnel burials. Their average statures were estimated as about 160 cm for males and 150 cm for females, indicating that they had somewhat small stature among protohistoric people. These physical features of the Yamoto people suggest Emishi control based on the ritsuryo legal code and the relationship between natives and immigrants in the Sendai Plain of ancient Tohoku district.
