The Relationship Between Linear Enamel Hypoplasia and Social Status in 18th to 19th Century Edo, Japan

Abstract

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.

Diachronic changes in linear enamel hypoplasia during the Edo period (1603–1867), Japan

“…Oyamada et al (2012) demonstrated that Edo period females had higher prevalence of LEH than males in Fukuoka, western Japan. Among the 18th-and 19th-century population in Edo, however, no significant difference in LEH prevalence or number of LEHs per individual was found between sexes in any coffin groups (Nakayama, 2016). In this study, no significant difference in the LEH occurrence patterns was found between sexes in any time period or coffin group, and it is unlikely that the variation of sex distribution among different groups had an effect on the comparison of LEH occurrences.…”

“…An absolute hierarchy of social status was characteristic of the Edo period society, which was established by the beginning of the 18th century (Asao, 1992). It is necessary to consider social status to make an effective comparison between the groups of different time periods, as a previous study revealed that higher-status individuals had fewer LEHs than lower-status individuals in 18th-and 19thcentury Edo (Nakayama, 2016). In the late Edo period, coffin types were closely associated with the social status of the deceased (Matsumoto, 1990;Tanigawa, 1992Tanigawa, , 1993Tanigawa, , 2004.…”

Enamel hypoplasia in a Mesolithic (5900±100 BC) individual from Woźna Wieś (Poland): a case study

“…As we know, its analysis enables a reconstruction of the level of health and, indirectly, also the economic and social status of the examined population. These studies reveal a general tendency that populations living at a high social level show, on average, a lower prevalence of enamel hypoplasia than communities in poor living conditions (e.g., Nakayama 2016, belonging to this individual was as follows (numbered according to FDI 1971): upper second incisor (22), upper first 14and second premolars (15, 25), upper first (26) and second (17) molars, lower first incisor (41), canine (43), both first premolars (44, 34), and first (36), second (37), and third (38, 48) molars (Fig. 2).…”

Societal perceptions and lived experience: Infant feeding practices in premodern Japan

“…Although differentiation of burial structures by social status was not necessarily evident in the earlier Edo period, before the 17th century (Tanigawa, ), a relatively high level of stress markers (Nagaoka & Hirata, ; Sawafuji et al, ; Yamamoto, ) and the location of the Hitotsubashi site within the settlement of the lower status population (Kato, ) suggest that the skeletons found at the Hitotsubashi site belonged to a lower status. A study comparing the prevalence of linear enamel hypoplasia, non‐specific indicators of stress (Katzenberg et al, ; Lewis, ), in the deciduous teeth from the Edo period suggests higher stress levels in people from lower social statuses (Nakayama, ).…”