Human skeletal remains from the late-Edo period (18-19c.) were excavated from Tenpukuji site, Fukuoka city in 1983-1984. In northern Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture, from which many important human skeletal remains have been found, the Tenpukuji materials are to date the only remains of Edo-era. Of the 200 human skeletons excavated at this site, 38 well preserved materials in each sex were selected for study. In a comparative analysis of the materials with other representative populations, the main findings are as follows:
Neurocranium : Length-breadth indices of the vault are 76.0 for males and 76.5 for females (mesocranic). They are one of the most dolichocephalic among the Edo-era populations, except for Tsubue and Kuwashima. In basio-bregmatic height and the indices (hypsi- and acrocranic), there is no evident difference among the medieval (Yoshimohama), recent (Tenpukuji) and modern populations from this region.
Facial skeleton : The facial skeleton as a whole is large and particularly high, except for measurements of the orbit. For example, upper facial height reaches 74.5 mm in males and 68.8 mm in females and KOLLMANN'Supper facial indices are 54.4 in males and 54.3 in females (mesenic). The nasal bridge shows a relatively sharp inflection in comparison with findings in the medieval and modern populations who lived in this prefecture. Muscle attachment areas are relatively well developed.
Reconstructed stature, calculated by PEARSON'S method, are 159.4cm for males and 146.5cm for females. They are similar to those seen in the Yoshimohama medieval population, but are apparently lower than the average statures of the Yayoi population (3c. B. 0.-A. D. 3c.) and Kofun population (4c.-7c. A. D.) from this prefecture.
In general, our findings in Tenpukuji show characteristics relatively similar to the Edoera populations excavated from Tokyo and Osaka, though they do exhibit regional characteristics concerning the dolichocephalic cranium. Furthermore, the characteristics in features of the nasal root and facial size and proportions show discontinuous changes in the course of time from medieval to modern periods. The various possibilities seemingly related to this findings, for example, so-called "urbanizationstrauma", gracilization, heterosis effect and so on, were discussed.