Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T02:54:55.241Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

14C Dating Human Skeletons from Medieval Archaelogical Sites in Kamakura, Japan: Were they Victims of Nitta Yoshisada's Attack?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

M Minami ,
T Nakamura ,
T Nagaoka  and
K Hirata
M Minami*
Affiliation:
Center for Chronological Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464–8602, Japan
T Nakamura
Affiliation:
Center for Chronological Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464–8602, Japan
T Nagaoka
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kanagawa 216–8511, Japan
K Hirata
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kanagawa 216–8511, Japan
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We investigated the radiocarbon ages and carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of human skeletal remains from burials at the Yuigahama-minami and Chusei-Shudan-Bochi sites in the Yuigahama area (Kamakura, Japan), which we believe are associated with the great attack on Kamakura by Nitta Yoshisada in AD 1333. The human bones produced enriched δ13C and δ15N values that could be affected by consumption of protein from marine fish and/or mammals with high δ13C and δ15N, and therefore older apparent 14C ages. We thus estimated the marine reservoir effect on human skeletons to determine their true ages. The IsoSource isotope mixing model was employed for reconstructing percentages of marine protein in the human diet, and calibrated calendar dates for the 14C ages were calculated using the marine percentages. At the Yuigahama-minami site, most skeletons from individual burials now date to the last phase of the Kamakura period or the early part of the Muromachi period, while skeletons from mixed human-animal multiple burials date to the latter part of the Kamakura period. The humans from the individual burials, consisting of normal ratios of adult males, could have died a natural death, though the site could also have been used to inter victims of the battle of 1333. The humans from mixed human-animal burials, consisting of a high proportion of infants, were not victims of the 1333 battle, but the site may have been used to inter victims of the Kamakura earthquake in 1293, which resulted in a catastrophic tsunami. On the other hand, the skeletons from multiple burials in the Chusei-Shudan-Bochi site all date to the middle Kamakura period. Coupled with the fact that most humans in the site are male but show no evidence of injuries by sword cuts, it is likely that burials of the Chusei-Shudan-Bochi site could have been a collective interment following the Jinji earthquake in 1241, the Shoka earthquake in 1257, or the Shoka famine in 1258 in the middle Kamakura period. The results of this study indicate that humans from burials in the Yuigahama region were not necessarily victims of the attack by Nitta Yoshisada on Kamakura, but instead were likely victims of natural disasters such as large earthquakes and severe famines, which often occurred in the middle Kamakura period.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 54 , Issue 3-4 , 2012 , pp. 599 - 613
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Ambrose, SH. 1993. Isotopic analysis of paleodiet: methodological and interpretive considerations. In: Sandford, MK, editor. Biogeochemical Approaches to Paleodietary Analysis. New York: Kluwer Academic, p 59–130.Google Scholar
Ambrose, SH, DeNiro, MJ. 1986. Reconstruction of African human diet using bone collagen carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios. Nature 319(6051):321–1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Britton, K, Müldner, G, Bell, M. 2003. Stable isotope evidence for salt-marsh grazing in the Bronze Age Severn Estuary, UK: implications for palaeodietary analysis at coastal sites. Journal of Archaeological Sciences 35(8):2111–8.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeNiro, NJ. 1985. Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to paleaeodietary reconstruction. Nature 317(6040):806–9.Google Scholar
DeNiro, NJ, Epstein, S. 1981. Influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 45(3):341–51.Google Scholar
Hirata, K, Oku, C, Hoshino, K, Tomo, S, Takahashi, S. 2002. On human skeletal remains from the Yuigahama-minami site. In: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosa Dan, editor. Yuigahama-Minami Site, Volume 2, Analysis 1. Kamakura: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosadan. p 1–240. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Hirata, K, Nagaoka, T, Hoshino, K. 2004. Analysis of injuries by swords in Medieval Japanese skeletons from Yuigahama, Kamakura. Anthropological Science 112(1):19–26.Google Scholar
Iida, K. 1984. Catalog of Tsunamis in Japan and its neighboring countries. Special report, Aichi Institute of Technology, Japan. 52 p.Google Scholar
Ishida, H, Doi, N, Uzawa, K. 2003. Reconstruction of People's Lives in the Middle Ages. Proposal for a Comprehensive Medieval Material Science - Current Issues in Medieval Archaeology. Shin-Jinbutsuoraisha. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Matsushita, T. 2002. On Medieval human skeletal remains from Yuigahama-minami site. In: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosa Dan, editor. Yuigahama-Minami Site, Volume 3, Analysis 2. Kamakura: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosadan. p 1–134. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Minagawa, M. 1993. Isotopic analysis of diet. In: Quaternary Period Sample Analysis. 2 Analysis by Research Theme. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Minami, M, Nakamura, T. 2005. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic fractionation in bone collagen during chemical treatment. Chemical Geology 222(1–2):65–74.Google Scholar
Minami, M, Aoki, H, Nakamura, T. 1998. Analytical note of stable nitrogen isotopic measurements with MAT-252 mass spectrometer at Dating and Materials Research Center, Nagoya University. Summaries of Researches Using AMS at Nagoya University IX:316–23. In Japanese with English abstract.Google Scholar
Minami, M, Muto, H, Nakamura, T. 2004. Chemical techniques to extract organic fractions from fossil bones for accurate 14C dating. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 223–224:302–7.Google Scholar
Nagaoka, T, Hirata, K. 2006. Tooth size of the Medieval period people of Japan. Anthropological Science 114:117–26.Google Scholar
Nagaoka, T, Hirata, K, Yokota, E, Matsu'ura, S. 2006. Paleodemography of a Medieval population in Japan: analysis of human skeleton remains from the Yuigahama-minami site. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 131:1–14.Google Scholar
Nishimoto, T, Uzawa, K, Ota, A, Anezaki, T, Toizumi, T. 2002. Animal remains from the Yuigahama-minami site. In: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosa Dan, editor. Yuigahama-Minami Site, Volume 2, Analysis 1. Kamakura: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosadan. p 241–67. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Phillips, DL, Gregg, JW. 2003. Source partitioning using stable isotopes: coping with too many sources. Oecologia 136:261–9.Google Scholar
Phillips, DL, Koch, PL. 2002. Incorporating concentration dependence in stable isotope mixing models. Oecologia 130:114–25.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Baillie, MGL, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, CE, Burr, GS, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP, Hajdas, I, Heaton, TJ, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kaiser, KF, Kromer, B, McCormac, FG, Manning, SW, Reimer, RW, Richards, DA, Southon, JR, Talamo, S, Turney, CSM, van der Plicht, J, Weyhenmeyer, CE. 2009. IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 51(4):1111–50.Google Scholar
Saiki, H. 2002. On human skeletal remains from the Yuigahama-minami site. In: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosa Dan, editor. Yuigahama-Minami Site, Volume 1. Kamakura: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosadan. p 1–4. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Saito, O. 2010. Chapter 15: Climate and famine in historic japan: a very long-term perspective. In: Kuroso, S, Bengtsson, T, Campbell, C, editors. Demographic Responses to Economic and Environmental Crises. Proceedings of the IUSSP Seminar on Demographic Responses to Sudden Economic and Environmental Change, Kashiwa, Japan, 21–23 May 2009. p 272–81.Google Scholar
Silfer, JA, Engel, MH, Macko, SA. 1992. Kinetic fractionation of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes during peptide bond histolysis: experimental evidence and geochemical implications. Chemical Geology 101:211–21.Google Scholar
Shishikura, M, Echigo, T, Kaneda, H. 2007. Marine reservoir correction for the central coast of Japan using 14C ages of marine mollusks uplifted during historical earthquakes. Quaternary Research 67:286–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suzuki, H, Watanabe, H, Iwamoto, M, Masuda, S, Inamoto, N, Mikami, T, Hayashi, T, Tanabe, Y, Sakura, H, Kohara, Y. 1956. Medieval Japanese Skeletons from the Burial Site at Zaimokuza, Kamakura City (Kamakurai Zamokuza Hakken no Chusei Iseki to sono Jinkotsu). Tokyo: Anthropological Society of Nippon, Iwanami shoten. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Suzuki, N. 1993. Generational differences in size and morphology of tooth crowns in the young modern Japanese. Anthropological Science 101:405–29.Google Scholar
Suzuki, H. 1996. Bones. Tokyo: Gakuseisha. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Suzuki, H. 1998. On the Japanese History Viewed from Human Skeletal Remains (Hone ga ktaru Nihon-shi). Tokyo: Gakuseisha. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Uzawa, K. 2002. Animal remains at the Yuigahama Southern site - the process of formation of animal bone samples and the character of the site. In: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosa Dan, editor. Yuigahama-Minami Site, Volume 2, Analysis 1. Kamakura: Yuigahama-minami Iseki Hakkutsu Chosadan. p 268–79. In Japanese.Google Scholar
van Klinken, GJ. 1999. Bone collagen quality indicators for palaeodietary and radiocarbon measurements. Journal of Archaeological Science 26(6):687–95.Google Scholar
Yoneda, M, Suzuki, R, Shibata, Y, Morita, M, Sukegawa, T, Shigehara, N, Akazawa, T. 2004. Isotopic evidence of inland-water fishing by a Jomon population excavated from Boji site, Nagano, Japan. Journal of Archaeological Science 31(1):97–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar