抄録
We report a total of fourteen new skeletal remains (eight adults, one juvenile and five infants) excavated from the Hasahapei burial site (A.D. 1300–1600) on Fais Island, Federated States of Micronesia. The Fais crania show an average or medium morphology with two individuals showing high skull morphology. The morphological trait of shoveling incisors, indicating Asian ancestry, is also present. The two females, SK7 and SK11, exhibit differences under PCA analysis. More cranial samples are needed in order to draw robust conclusions, however. Estimates of stature indicate that, compared to Micronesian and Polynesian populations, the Fais males are shorter and the Fais females are similar in height or taller. Marks of occupational stress and of trauma to the vertebrae, as well as evidence of degenerative joint diseases, may indicate that Fais individuals lived a rather active and physical lifestyle. A treponemal disease, most likely yaws, was also present in two Fais individuals; this indicates childhood disease. A high rate of enamel hypoplasias also suggests poor nutrition or illness among the Fais. The similarly high incidence of caries and calculus formations indicate a carbohydrate-rich diet and poor oral hygiene. Brown stains on the enamel are due to hypocalcification and hypoplasia, meaning the stains originated in food and plaque and not in the betel chewing common in the Marianas.
