ABSTRACT
DNA studies of Jōmon and Yayoi skeletal remains In the previous chapter, we looked at studies based on morphological characteristics, such as skull and teeth shape, studies of a type that have been carried out for many years. More recently, particularly in the last twenty years, molecular anthropologists have produced studies of human DNA. DNA can be divided into two types, nuclear and mitochondrial. Every human being has forty-six chromosomes that inhabit the nucleus of almost every cell in the body. These chromosomes contain the majority of the genetic information people inherit from their parents. This is known as the nuclear DNA. In reproduction, the nuclear DNA of one parent mixes with the nuclear DNA of the other. Outside the nucleus, but within the cell, are the mitochondria. These perform various functions such as producing the energy that cells need. There are about 1700 in each cell, and each includes an identical loop of DNA about 16,000 base pairs (bp) long containing thirty-seven genes (in contrast, nuclear DNA consists of three billion base pairs and an estimated 70,000 genes: Groleau 2005: 2). Unlike the nuclear DNA, which is inherited from both parents, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is inherited only from the mother.
