Dental Anthropology and Population Affinities of the Okhotsk Culture of Hokkaido and Sakhalin
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The study is focused on analysis of dental non-metric characteristics of the Okhotsk people from Hokkaido and Sakhalin. The data for study includes paleoanthropological finds from Susuya, Moyoro, Hamanaka, Omisaki, Utoro Jinjayama, Koema, Mehashidomari, Uedomari, Uennaipo, and Shumshu burial grounds. The materials were studied using the conventional program used by the Russian researchers. The data on the Okhotsk sample were compared with ancient and historical populations of the Russian Far East, the Japanese archipelago, and America using multivariate statistical analysis. The main objective of the study was to analyze the influence of the Okhotsk series on morphological characteristics of the historical populations of northeast Asia and to evaluate existing hypotheses regarding the ethnic affiliation of Okhotsk groups. The results revealed that the distal trigonid crest is one of the most essential features for differentiating Far Eastern groups. Its inclusion in the research program highlighted similarities between the Okhotsk tradition and the Neolithic population of Primorye. Morphologically, the Okhotsk people occupy an intermediate position between the Neolithic Boisman culture and several modern groups. The latter include the Orochi, Ulchi, Nanai, and Eskimo, assuming the presence of a component related to the Okhotsk populations. Since the Okhotsk contribution to the anthropological features of the historical population appears to be very broad, it is hardly possible to determine the ethnic affiliation of the Okhotsk culture within a single line of connections leading to any of the Far Eastern ethnic groups.
Author: A. V. Zubova
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology (arts and humanities)
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7208787719