At the Kyushu University Museum, where I work, approximately 3,000 ancient human skeletal remains excavated from archaeological sites are housed. Since their excavation and collection began in 1953, these remains have been central to numerous studies on the origins of the peoples of the Japanese Archipelago. In particular, much attention has focused on the beginning of the Yayoi period, when wet-rice cultivation was introduced and migrants arrived from the continent. Research on these skeletal remains has revealed that, during the formation of the Yayoi culture in northern Kyushu, people’s facial traits changed significantly from those of the Jomon period. Traits associated with immigrants from the continent, such as a longer facial shape, spread across western Japan. These changes are now understood not as a large-scale population replacement, but as a gradual and small-scale transformation. In this seminar, I will introduce some of the latest findings in physical anthropology that shed light on the historical changes in the people who once lived in the Japanese Archipelago.

12:10 – 12:15　Introduction
Kun Qian, Associate Professor (Q-AOS Coordinator)

12:15 – 12:40 "Meet the Yayoi People: Discoveries from Ancient Skeletons at the Kyushu University Museum”

Associate Professor Shiori Yonemoto
(The Kyushu University Museum)

12:40 – 12:50 Q&A

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