Temporal Changes in Stature of Western Japanese Based on Limb Characteristics.

Abstract

We studied temporal changes in the stature and limb characteristics of western Japanese during the Jomon to Edo periods for comparison with those of Kanto Japanese (Hiramoto, 1972; Yamaguchi, 1986), and to establish norms for Japanese from both regions. Stature was estimated by the formulae of Fujii, Pearson and Trotter/Gleser based on 686 femora, 582 tibiae, 558 humeri and 569 radii from a total of 511 samples. The leg index was based on 334 lower limbs, while the forearm index was on 284 upper limbs.Stature based on the femur/humerus increased markedly between the Jomon and Yayoi periods, and then decreased between the Yayoi and medieval periods. In contrast, stature based on the tibia/radius, after increasing slightly between the Jomon and Yayoi periods, decreased gradually during the Yayoi to Edo periods. On the other hand, the leg and forearm indices decreased between the Jomon and Yayoi periods, were maintained between the Yayoi and medieval periods, and then again decreased between the medieval and Edo periods. These results imply that increases in the stature between the Jomon and Yayoi periods result from elongations of both the femur and tibia, while decreases in the index result from elongation of the femur/humerus beyond the tibia/radius. We also found that the stature of Japanese from both western and Kanto regions had changed similarly from the Jomon to Edo periods.

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