Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis in Late Jomon Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyse the evidence for diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) in samples of human skeletal material recovered from Late Jomon (ca. 1500-300 BCE) and Okhotsk (CE 500-900) cultural period sites, northwestern Hokkaido, Japan. Two individuals from the Jomon period assemblage (n=14) exhibited lesions consistent with DISH, while the larger Okhotsk sample (n=39) was free of this condition. The aetiology of this condition is reviewed with reference to the clinical and bioarchaeological literature, in addition to behavioural and environmental considerations specific to this region and these time periods.