沖縄・奄美の貝塚から出土したブダイ科魚類の咽頭骨

抄録

The present study on archaeological materials is concerned particularly with 110 pieces of pharyngeal bones of parrotfishes.They were excavated together with many other fish remains from the shell-mounds located at Ushuku in Amami-Oshima, Omonawa in Tokunoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, and Shimashihyahma in Kutakajima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan (Fig.1).The age of the shell-mounds is considered to be the late “Jomon” age (about 3, 000-2, 500 B.P.).There bones were identified by comparison with those of the living species found in the region (Figs.2 and 3).
The characters of the upper pharyngeal which were used to distinguish species of the parrotfishes are: arrangement and number of raws of teeth, and position and shape of each tooth.Those of the lower pharyngeal are: shape of dentigerous surface, number of teeth of a transversal row, arrangement of rows of teeth, and relative height between surface of lateral process and dentigerous surface.
The archaeological specimens identified belonged to three genera and ten species: namely, Scarops rubroviolaceus (Bleeker), Bolbometopon bicolor (Rüppell), Scarus gibbus Rüppell, S.lunula (Snyder), S.sordidus Forsskål, S.taeniurus Valenciennes, S.bowersi (Snyder), S.dimidiatus Bleeker, S.ghobban Forsskål, and S.aeruginosus Valenciennes.