Taphonomic observation of Jomon human skeletal remains from a collective burial of the Gongenbara shell-mound, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Bibliographic Data

ID6135990
AuthorsM Minagawa (0000-0001-9928-4645, The University of Tokyo), Osamu Kondo (0000-0001-9729-1446, The University of Tokyo)
Year2023
Volume131
Issue2
Pages89-105
Publication date2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropological Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0918-7960 • E-ISSN: 1348-8570
PublisherAnthropological Society of Nippon (PUBLISHER • JP)
DOI10.1537/ase.230223
OpenAlexW4380569332
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited19

To evaluate burial customs in the Jomon period of Japan, we observed the taphonomic sig natures of human bones from a secondary collective burial and compared them with those from in dividual burials. We compared the compositions of identified bone parts, degree of weathering, and damage of the bone surfaces based on two neighboring shell-mound sites, Gongenbara and Horinouchi in Chiba Prefecture; a famous secondary collective burial had previously been discovered at the Gongenbara shell-mound. The degree of weathering differed between the collective and individual burials, and also differed depending on the horizontal and vertical location within the collective buri al. These differences imply that a variable degree of weathering plausibly occurred at or after the secondary burial, but not at the primary burial. Regarding bone surface damage, specific types of dam age were more frequently observed on the limb bones in the collective burial than in the individual burials, although different types of damage were observed in the skull assemblage. These findings sug gest that different burial processes could cause the secondarily reburied bones to be exposed to the air for a longer duration of time or more easily be accessed by insects or other small animals, which might have produced variable taphonomic signatures

Archaeology · Assemblage (archaeology · Biology · Degree (music · Geography · Human bone · Shell (structure · Skull · Taphonomy · Weathering · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Materials Science · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology · Paleontology