Typicality probabilities of Late Pleistocene human fossils from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia: implications for the Jomon population in Japan

Abstract

The question of the origins of the Jomon population is examined by Campbell’s predictive approach, a method using ‘typicality probability’ which is currently the best way of comparing a single specimen with a reference population. Among the five Pleistocene fossils compared with a Late/Final Jomon sample from the Tohoku district, the analysis based on 13 cranial measurements revealed that Keilor from Australia was more likely a member of the Jomon population than Minatogawa I from Okinawa and Liujiang from southern China. Although, from a chronological viewpoint, it is not possible for Keilor to be an ancestor of the Jomon, these results suggest that the Australian Late Pleistocene population, or their ancestors, should also be considered when seeking the origins of the Jomon.