Destruction Of Dead Bodies in the Jomon Period of Japan: Evidence of Violence or a Mortuary Practice?

HIRANO Rikiya

Destructing dead bodies as a part of mortuary practice, which is known across various eras and regions worldwide, is a key element to understand the view of life and death in a prehistoric society. As for the early-mid Holocene societies of the Jomon hunter-gatherers in the Japanese archipelago, while there are sporadic case reports suggesting dismemberment, cannibalism, and cremation, no systematic studies have so far been done to investigate postmortem modifications of human dead bodies. In this study, I focus on Jomon skulls that show signs of human-induced perforations or damage caused by stone axes. While these cases have been cited as evidence of interpersonal violence, it is also possible that they were inflicted on the deceased as part of mortuary practice. During my comprehensive observation of Jomon skulls from all regions of the Japanese archipelago, I discovered several additional cases of perforated skulls. Based on the increased cranial sample, their morphological characteristics and burial contexts, and by focusing on two regions of Japan (Odake shell mounds, early Jomon; several shell mounds in the Southern Kanto region, late Jomon), I examine whether these cranial destructions resulted from some mortuary practices or not.