Dietary variation and stress among prehistoric Jomon foragers from Japan
- PMID: 17554758
- DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20645
Dietary variation and stress among prehistoric Jomon foragers from Japan
Abstract
Current archaeological evidence indicates that greater dietary reliance on marine resources is recorded among the eastern Jomon, while plant dependence prevailed in western/inland Japan. The hypothesis that the dietary choices of the western/inland Jomon will be associated with greater systemic stress is tested by comparing carious tooth and enamel hypoplasia frequencies between the eastern and western/inland Jomon. Demographic collapse coincides with climate change during the Middle to Late Jomon period, suggesting dwindling resource availability. It is hypothesized that this change was associated with greater systemic stress and/or dietary change among the Middle to Late Jomon. This hypothesis is tested by comparing enamel hypoplasia and carious tooth frequencies between Middle to Late and Late to Final Jomon foragers. Enamel hypoplasia was significantly more prevalent among the western/inland Jomon. Such findings are consistent with archaeological studies that argue for greater plant consumption and stresses associated with seasonal resource depletion among the western/inland Jomon. Approximately equivalent enamel hypoplasia frequencies between Middle to Late and Late to Final Jomon foragers argues against a demographic collapse in association with diminished nutritional returns. Significant differences in carious tooth frequencies are, however, observed between Middle to Late and Late to Final Jomon foragers. These results suggest a subsistence shift during the Middle to Late Jomon period, perhaps in response to a changed climate. The overall patterns of stress documented by this study indicate wide-spread environmentally directed biological variation among the prehistoric Jomon.
(c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Similar articles
-
What can variation in stature reveal about environmental differences between prehistoric Jomon foragers? Understanding the impact of systemic stress on developmental stability.Am J Hum Biol. 2008 Jul-Aug;20(4):431-9. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.20756. Am J Hum Biol. 2008. PMID: 18348169
-
Dental caries prevalence as evidence for agriculture and subsistence variation during the Yayoi period in prehistoric Japan: biocultural interpretations of an economy in transition.Am J Phys Anthropol. 2007 Dec;134(4):501-12. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.20694. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2007. PMID: 17935154
-
Patterns of systemic stress during the agricultural transition in prehistoric Japan.Am J Phys Anthropol. 2010 May;142(1):112-24. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.21208. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2010. PMID: 19953616
-
Can dental caries be interpreted as evidence of farming? The Asian experience.Front Oral Biol. 2009;13:162-166. doi: 10.1159/000242411. Epub 2009 Sep 21. Front Oral Biol. 2009. PMID: 19828990 Review.
-
Japan considered from the hypothesis of farmer/language spread.Evol Hum Sci. 2020 May 5;2:e13. doi: 10.1017/ehs.2020.7. eCollection 2020. Evol Hum Sci. 2020. PMID: 37588377 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Early childhood caries, climate change and the sustainable development goal 13: a scoping review.BMC Oral Health. 2024 May 3;24(1):524. doi: 10.1186/s12903-024-04237-2. BMC Oral Health. 2024. PMID: 38702704 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Factors influencing cranial variation between prehistoric Japanese forager populations.Archaeol Anthropol Sci. 2024;16(1):3. doi: 10.1007/s12520-023-01901-6. Epub 2023 Dec 13. Archaeol Anthropol Sci. 2024. PMID: 38098511 Free PMC article.
-
Analysis of whole Y-chromosome sequences reveals the Japanese population history in the Jomon period.Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 17;9(1):8556. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-44473-z. Sci Rep. 2019. PMID: 31209235 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical