Biological Anthropology on the Uniqueness of Polynesian Physique

该研究项目的目的是通过对波利尼西亚群岛的实地调查，收集几种或几种基本数据，以便研究波利尼西亚人的身体适应性进化过程。三年来在国际科学研究补助金资助下开展的主要研究成果田野调查的主要内容如下：1）通过对古人类遗骸的分析和人体学调查，收集了大量的生物人类学资料; 2）我们在现场采集了动物骨骼和植物遗骸进行放射性同位素分析，这对于重建过去的气候和人们的食物是必要的; 3）我们收集了各种生态人类学数据，以描绘史前波利尼西亚人的生存活动; 4）我们收集了波利尼西亚词汇，圣歌和口头传统，通过语言学和民俗学方法重建古代人的生活方式。我们在研究计划中提出的目的已经完全实现了。下一步，我们将在实验室里使用各种特殊技术对这些数据进行更详细的分析，这一工作正在进行中，一些值得注意的发现已经出现。其中一些发现是，史前波利尼西亚人通常是如此依赖于捕鱼活动，通过潜水，波利尼西亚人的独特的体型似乎是一种或新世界综合症（NWS），海水温度可能下降，在近千年来在南太平洋，等等。在记录一种几乎已经消失的波利尼西亚方言时非常重要。它一定是波利尼西亚人民的宝贵历史遗产，在未来传承下去。

The aim of this research project was to collect several kinds or basic data through field surveys in Polynesia islands, with which the bodily adaptive evolutionary processes of Polynesian people can be studied. Major research results we carried out in the three years financially supported by Grant-in-Aid for International Scientific Research (Field research) are as follows : 1) We collected a quantity of biological anthropology data through both the analysis of ancient human skeletal remains and somatological survey ; 2) We sampled in situ animal bones and plant remains for radio-isotope analyses which are necessary to reconstruct both the climate and people's food in the past ; 3) We gathered a variety of ecological anthropology data necessary for picturing the subsistence activities of prehistoric Polynesians ; and 4) We collected Polynesian vocabularies, chants, and oral traditions to reconstruct the way of life of ancient people by means of linguistic and folklore methods. The purpose we put on at our research proposal, has been completely materialysed. Next step is that we analyze in more detail those data in use of many kinds of special techniques at our laboratories later on. It is on way, and some noticeable findings have already been coming out. Some of those findings are that prehistoric Polynesian people were usually so dependent on fishing activities through diving, that the unique body type of Polynesian people seems to be a sort or New World Syndrome (NWS), that sea-water temperature possibly went down in recent thousand years in South Pacific, and so on. It should be noted that a Mangaian-English dictionary we compiled, is very important in recording one of Polynesian dialects which have nearly disappeared already. It must be the valuable historic heritage of Polynesian people to hand down in the future.