Embodying Okhotsk Ethnicity: Human Skeletal Remains from the Aonae Dune Site, Okushiri Island, Hokkaido

Abstract

This article describes human skeletal remains from the Aonae Dune site, Okushiri Island, Hokkaido, Japan. Skeletal remains of an adult female and two sub adults were excavated in 2002. Although these remains derived from Okhotsk culture contexts, analyses of cranial and tooth crown measurements demonstrated that Aonae Dune No.1 (the adult female), Aonae Dune No.2 (a child of about 11 years), and Aonae Dune No.3 (a child of about 6 years) are morphologically closer to Epi-Jomon or Jomon and Ainu populations and significantly different from other Okhotsk samples in Hokkaido. It is argued that these three skeletons probably represent individuals from a different culture who were adopted into Okhotsk society. KEYWORDS: Hokkaido, Okhotsk culture, Aonae Dune site, osteological analyses, ethnicity.