Degree of Dental Attrition of the Kanenokuma Yayoi Population.

The degree of dental attrition of the Kanenokuma skeletal series, which are famous for the skeletons of the Yayoi type, were investigated. For comparative study, specimens which are in a good state of preservation have been assigned to age categories by the observation on some morphological features in the skeletal remains, and by using Tochihara's inspective method, they were compared with the dental attrition of modern Japanese which were examined by Tochihara in 1957. The results indicated that the dental attrition of the Kanenokuma population was pronounced in comparison with modern Japanese. Moreover, the degree of dental attrition was considerably useful for adult's age estimation when the standards of population-specific rates of functional dental attrition are assessed.