Announcing Research Findings on the Paleo-diet of Sika Deer from the Jomon Period

October 18, 2022

Keio University

Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo

Fukui Prefecture

Wakasa Town, Fukui Prefecture

By analyzing the morphology of microscopic wear marks on the surfaces of sika deer mandibles excavated from the Torihama Shell Midden in Wakasa Town, Fukui Prefecture, we have revealed the feeding behavior of this species during the Jomon period. This study is the first to attempt to elucidate the feeding behavior of sika deer from the Jomon period.

Details of the research findings were published on October 10, 2022, in the open-access journal "Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution" (see URL below).

Frontiers | Reconstructing diets of hunted sika deer from Torihama Shell Midden site (ca. 6,000 years ago) by dental microwear texture analysis

Please see below for the full press release.