Human skeletal remains of a chief-retainer family of the Akashi clan from the Unseiji site (Akashi, Japan) in the Edo period

Anthropological Science

Miyamoto²,

Uno

et al. 2016

Self Cite

The life history of a female individual skeleton (ST61) from the Edo period (AD 1603(AD -1868 was investigated by using multi-tissue and multi-isotope analyses. Her gravestone and historical documents revealed that ST61 was a grandmother of a chief retainer of the Akashi clan who died in 1732 aged 77 years. Radiocarbon and sulfur stable isotope analyses indicated that the contribution of marine foods to the ST61 diet was relatively low (17.2% protein) despite the relatively higher nitrogen isotope ratio of the rib bone collagen. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of the serial section of tooth dentin along the growth lines indicated that breast milk was not the major protein source of ST61 after roughly 1-1.5 years of age, although this weaning pattern was not evident from the oxygen stable isotope ratios of her tooth enamel serial sections. The carbon stable isotopes in tooth dentin collagen and tooth enamel apatite suggested that her diet from 0.5 to 5 years of age possibly contained a small proportion of C 4 plants. Stable isotope ratios of the rib bone and the tooth dentin collagen differed, consistent with historical documents describing a residential change at the age of 27. The calibrated radiocarbon ages of the associated rice hull were at least 80-120 years older than the year of death of ST61. Sulfur stable isotope ratio of the rice hull suggested that fish fertilizers might have been used for paddy rice at that time. Multi-tissue and multi-isotope analyses can provide information of several kinds from different time windows even from an individual skeleton.

Section: St61mentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: St61mentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: St61mentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: St61mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

From cradle to grave: multi-isotopic investigations on the life history of a higher-status female from Edo-period Japan

Anthropological Science

Miyamoto²,

Uno

et al. 2016

Self Cite

Stable isotopic reconstructions of adult diets and infant feeding practices during urbanization of the city of Edo in 17th century Japan

American J Phys Anthropol

Nagaoka

Sawada

et al. 2013

The urbanization of the city of Edo, the capital of premodern Japan, has been assumed to be not as a result of natural increase but that of in-migration although this assumption has never been verified. To obtain information on natural fertility in Edo, we analyzed stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in 46 adult and 84 subadult human skeletons excavated from the Hitotsubashi site (1657-1683 AD: the early Edo period), Tokyo, Japan and reconstructed their breastfeeding period, one of the most important determinants of fertility. Adult females are significantly more depleted in (15) N by 0.7‰ than adult males, suggesting a dietary differentiation between sexes and/or the effect of pregnancy. The changes in the nitrogen isotope ratios of subadults suggest that supplementary foods were introduced around the age of 0.2 years and weaning ended around 3.1 years, which agrees with descriptions in various historical documents of the period. The duration of breastfeeding in the Hitotsubashi population was relatively longer than those in modern industrial and traditional societies and four previously reported populations in medieval and in the industrial England. As later weaning closely associates with longer inter-birth interval for mothers, our data suggest a lower natural fertility for the Hitotsubashi population. Assuming that the proportion of married people was also lower in the major cities of the earlier Edo period, our results support the assumption that Edo developed and increased its population by attracting immigrants during urbanization.

The diet of townspeople in the city of Edo: carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses of human skeletons from the Ikenohata-Shichikencho site

Nagaoka

Kakinuma

et al. 2016

Self Cite

Individual dietary differences (e.g. sex, age, period, and region) among townspeople during the Edo period are unclear, although the historical literature describes the general dietary menu. We ap plied carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses to 103 adult human skeletons excavated from the IkenohataShichikencho site of the Edo period (late 17th to late 19th century AD) in Japan to investigate individual dietary differences among townspeople in the city of Edo. The mean carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of Ikenohata townspeople were -19.7 ± 0.4‰ and 10.8 ± 0.7‰, respectively, which sug gests that C 3 -based terrestrial foods, freshwater fish, and marine fish were their main dietary protein sources. Intra-population comparisons indicated no significant difference among individuals of different sexes, age categories, and chronological periods, with the exception of a sex difference in carbon isotope ratios (0.37‰) during the Middle-Late period (last half of 18th century). Comparison of the Ikenohata data with the results of previous studies revealed significant isotopic differences in skeletal populations of the same social class (up to 1.33‰ for nitrogen) and same Edo city (up to 1.64‰ for nitrogen). Al though these differences were relatively small in terms of stable isotope ecology, dietary food sources for people during the Edo period would differ to some extent by their social class and geographic region of residence.