Morphologic and Genetic Evidence for the Kinship of Juvenile Skeletal Specimens from a 2,000 Year-old Double Burial of the Usu-Moshiri Site, Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of a double burial at the 2,000 year-old Usu-Moshiri Epi-Jomon site in Hokkaido, Japan, using detailed odontometric analysis in conjunction with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis in order to more precisely assess their kinship. Consanguinity between the two juveniles found in this burial was suggested by the archaeological context as well as by preliminary morphological studies of the skeletons. Mitochondrial DNA sequences, while consistent with their maternal kinship, did not provide decisive evidence. Supplementing and strengthening the kinship determination, Q-mode correlations between these two individuals with respect to tooth crown measurements and proportions were consistently positive and very high. Statistical analysis of the difference between tooth size correlations in this pair, and those in pairs of related and unrelated individuals from other Japanese populations indicated that they likely had been first-degree relatives. Considering that the two individuals had been approximately seven and eleven years old at the time of their interment side by side, we concluded that they likely had been siblings rather than other first-degree maternal relatives. This study demonstrated that combining odontological analysis with mtDNA testing may be effective for reliable and detailed kinship assessment of ancient skeletal remains.