Taphonomic analysis of human and bird remains from the Doigahama site, Japan: reassessing the context of the ‘woman embracing a cormorant’ burial

The first human skeleton (DHS-1) excavated in 1953 at the Doigahama site (Yayoi period, Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi) is commonly known as the ‘u wo daku onna’ (‘woman embracing a cormorant’). This name originates from the identification of avian bones found near the breast of this middle-aged female as a chick of the Japanese cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus). However, a recent morphological re-examination of these avian bones clarified that they were not those of a juvenile cormorant. Additionally, three of the avian bones were found to have been bitten by small animals, which raises questions about the premise that these bones were buried at the same time as DHS-1. In this study, we observed and compared the surface morphology of DHS-1 and the associated bones (infant human bones (DHS-1a) and avian bones), and re-examined the possibility of simultaneous burial of these remains from taphonomic perspectives. We observed three types of damage (types A, B, and C) in the bones. Of these, two types of damage (types A and B) were observed in DHS-1. The characteristics of type A were consistent with those reported as traces of insect bites, and type B with those reported to be derived from plant roots. Type C, presumed to be animal bite marks such as those from small carnivores, was found only in the avian bones and DHS-1a, but not in DHS-1. Considering the appearance patterns of the damage, we hypothesize that after the burial of DHS-1, the sand moved and the body was temporarily exposed. When it was covered with sand again, the avian bones and DHS-1a were buried near DHS-1. Subsequently, all these bones were then excavated together.