Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) has been utilised in human bioarchaeology as an indicator of growth disturbance during childhood. However, only a few studies have compared populations of different socio‐economic status in the same time period. This study examines the association between the LEH occurrence pattern and social status in the 18th to 19th century populations in Japan. Detailed archaeological studies on burials from the Edo period (1603–1867) excavated in Tokyo have facilitated estimating an individual's social status by its burial type. In this study, 112 individuals from the Sugenji‐Shokenji site were divided into three burial structure groups (ceramic jar coffins for middle‐class warriors, wooden square coffins for low‐class warriors and townspeople and wooden circular coffins for townspeople) and examined for the general prevalence of LEH, number of LEH and the chronological distribution of LEH. A high general prevalence of LEH was observed in every group, especially in lower canine (79.3–100.0%). However, individuals in the jar coffin group showed a lower prevalence and smaller number of LEH per tooth, suggesting that individuals of higher social status experienced better living environments in their childhood. There was no significant difference in the chronological distribution of LEH formation between coffin groups. Such data are essential for understanding the association between socio‐economic status and living conditions in specific societies in the past. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) is a useful indicator of childhood health. This study aimed at investigating whether there was any diachronic change in LEH occurrence during the Edo period (1603-1867). The Edo period, which experienced no major transition in subsistence and had no largescale contact with foreign population, did undergo various social changes that could have affected childhood health status. The skeletal remains of 144 adult individuals recovered from seven burial sites in Tokyo were examined. Based on historical records and archaeological evidence, these individuals were divided into two time-period groups, the early Edo period and the late Edo period. Each group was then subdivided into the two age-at-death groups of young and old. The late Edo period groups were also divided into coffin-type groups, which reflect their social status. Comparison of general prevalence, frequency distribution, and the mean number of LEHs observed per tooth revealed that the individuals of the late Edo period groups of any coffin type tend to have fewer LEHs than those of the early Edo period groups, and significant differences were found either in the frequency distribution or in the mean number of LEHs per tooth. Considering the possible factors that could affect the result, such as age-atdeath distribution and social status, the observed difference between the time periods can be attributed to diachronic change, which is assumed to be due to improvements in childhood health status during the Edo period. This assumption is compatible with historical evidence suggesting that the living environment in the city of Edo was improving in the 17th century and stabilized in the 18th century as a result of the establishment of basic infrastructure and improvements in public safety. The findings of this study will help us understand childhood health status in a changing society.

The aims of this study are to examine the human skeletal remains from the Yuigahamachusei-shudan-bochi (seika-ichiba) site, or YCSB-SI, to provide data regarding the metrics of the crania and limb bones, to compare these metrics with those of ancient Japanese skeletons, and to discuss the population variability of the medieval Japanese. The results provided several findings regarding the cranial and limb-bone traits of the YCSB-SI sample: (1) the YCSB-SI remains shared dolichocephaly with the remains from the other medieval series, but the YCSB-SI remains had the highest faces of all the medieval series; (2) there is a distinction between the YCSB-SI remains and the Jomon remains in that the former had a larger length-breadth index of the crania, higher Virchow's facial and upper facial indices, smaller maximum length of the ulnae and tibiae, and a smaller mid-shaft index of the femora than the latter; and (3) the estimated stature from Fujii's equations using the maximum length of the femur for YCSB-SI males and females was 158.7 and 146.3 cm, respectively, which is nearly equal to that of other medieval series but several centimeters shorter than that of the Kofun series.