Additional features of Ainu dentition. V. Peopling of the pacific |
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Authors: | Christy G Turner Kazuro Hanihara |
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Abstract: | Crown morphology of 85 plaster dental casts from skeletal and living Ainus of less than 1/8 non-Ainu admixture is described and compared for microevolutionary and origins considerations. There is no significant sex dimorphism and few inter-sample differences through time. Inter-observer differences occur where observation standards are poorly established. Ainu teeth exhibit a simplified pattern and have trait frequencies more like those of Polynesians and Micronesians than like Chinese, Japanese or Europeans. There is no dental evidence in support of a Caucasoid origin or close relationship. Similarities outnumber differences between Ainu teeth and those of Micronesians and Polynesians suggestive of a past biological relationship. |
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Keywords: | Ainu dentition Asian-Pacific teeth Ainu origins Mongoloids Race Dental anthropology |
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