Paleopathological study on infectious diseases in Japan • 129 



from the Korean Peninsula continued until around the eighth 

 century a.d. Japanese living in western areas were likely to 

 be atTected by such migrants physically, although the Ainu in 

 Hokicaido seemed to remain unmixed (Hanihara 1985). 

 Therefore, the influence of the admixture which took place 

 after the Yayoi period is still evident in western Japan. How- 

 ever, the eastern Japanese maintain some characteristics 

 which are similar to the Ainu to a greater or lesser extent 

 (ibid.). 



After consolidation of Japan into a single nation in the 

 fourth century, successive emperors strengthened the foun- 

 dation of the country by introducing various aspects of conti- 

 nental learning and culture. These included the Chinese 

 writing system, ideology (Confucianism) and religion (Bud- 

 dhism). In particular. Buddhism recommended cremation, 

 and after the protohistoric period people did not make shell 

 mounds as a burial site, so that complete skeletal remains 

 belonging to the protohistoric period are ditficult to find 

 except for some special burial ca.ses. 



Materials 



The skeletal materials used in this study were from collec- 

 tions of various periods and sites housed in several univer- 

 sities. Only adult skeletons were examined for their patho- 

 logical changes because of the abundance in quantity and 

 quality. Four major skeletal series can be considered as the 

 core of this study: 



1 . The Jomon skeletal series consisted of 272 individual 

 skeletons from eight sites (seven from shell mounds and one 

 from a cave site). Among them, six skeletal series (Hobi. Ko, 

 Nakazawahama, Ubayama, Kasori, Yosekura) are housed in 

 the Department of Physical Anthropology of the University 

 Museum. The University of Tokyo, and they are registered 

 and catalogued by Endo and Endo ( 1979). Two other Jomon 

 skeletal series from Tsukumo and Yoshigo are housed in the 

 Department of Physical Anthropology, Kyoto University. 



2. The Edo skeletal series consisted of 308 femora and 253 

 tibiae housed in the Department of Physical Anthropology of 

 the University Museum, The University of Tokyo. Whole, 

 individual skeletons of the Edo period (latest medieval, ear- 

 liest modem) could scarcely be excavated because most buri- 

 al sites of this period, particularly in Edo (old Tokyo) city, 

 were secondary and reburied sites. Therefore, the skeletal 

 materials which were from five Edo sites (Unko-in,Joshin-ji, 

 Fudo-ji, Hoden-ji and Edogawa-bashi) could not be identi- 

 fied as to age, sex, or individual. Besides the long bone 

 material of femora and tibiae, 923 skulls of the Edo period 

 which have already been studied by the author with respect to 

 cranial syphilis (Suzuki 1984a) were used for this study. 



3. The Ainu skeletal series consisted of 178 individual 

 skeletons, and were from two northern islands: Hokkaido 

 and Sakhalin. These skeletal materials, believed to be from 

 the latest medieval and earliest modem Ainu, correspond to 



the Edo period and were collected by Koganei in Hokkaido 

 (Koganei 1894) and by Kiyono in Sakhalin (Kiyono 

 1943,1949). The materials from the Hokkaido Ainu, called 

 "Koganei collection," are housed in the Department of Anat- 

 omy of the University Museum, The University of Tokyo. 

 The materials of Sakhalin Ainu, a part of the "Kiyono collec- 

 tion," are housed in the Department of Physical Anthropol- 

 ogy, Kyoto University. The detailed paleopathological stud- 

 ies on these major Ainu skeletal series have already been 

 conducted and reported by the author (Suzuki and Ikeda 

 1981; Suzuki 1984b, 1985b). 



4. The Meiji Japanese (early modem) skeletal series con- 

 sisted of 113 whole, individual skeletal materials from the 

 Kanto area (central part of Honshu). These materials are now 

 housed in the Department of Anatomy, Sapporo Medical 

 College. Their demography (sex, age and birthplace) is well 

 recorded. These individuals ranged from 20 to 80 years old. 

 They died between 1927 and 1944. Some osteological and 

 physical anthropological studies on this series have been car- 

 ried out by several authors (Mitsuhashi 1958; Wada 1975; 

 Hashizaki and Kaneko 1979; Higuchi 1983). 



The locations of the major sites of these four skeletal series 

 are indicated in Figure 1 and detailed contents of individuals 

 and skeletal parts of these series are listed in Table 1 . 



Furthemiore. in addition to these four major skeletal series 

 a few cases exhibiting interesting pathological conditions 

 were used in the study. These special cases will be described 

 as to the sources and data in each case. 



Methods 



GROSS OBSERVATION 



Pathological changes appearing on the skeleton from Jomon 

 to modem Japanese skeletal series were examined by gross 

 observation and, in most cases, by x-ray film. Neither a 

 histological nor a microscopic study has been carried out. 



The examination was carried out only on adult skeletal 

 remains, because the subadult skeletons were few and most 

 of them were so badly damaged that the identification and 

 pathology were difficult to ascertain. The skeletal parts ob- 

 served in this study included skull, sternum, and vertebral 

 column, and also limb girdle bones such as the scapula, 

 clavicle, and pelvis, as well as long bones of the extremities 

 including humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia, and fibula. 

 Small bones of the hand and feet were excluded as well as 

 fragmented ribs. From the Edo period only skull, femur, and 

 tibia were examined because of the commingled state caused 

 by reburials. 



Lesions appearing in both the maxilla and mandible 

 caused by periodontal diseases were excluded in this study. 

 Those inflammatory changes, though frequently appearing 

 in archeological specimens with abscess formation, should 

 be classified into another category, such as "lesions of jaws 

 and teeth" (Ortner and Putschar 1981:436-456). 



Zagreb Paleopathology Symp. 1988 



