DNA analysis offers insight into Japan’s ancient population boom, bust
June 20 (UPI) -- Scientists have gained new insights into the history of Japan's early residents by analyzing the Y chromosomes of modern Japanese men. The analysis allowed researchers to estimate the ancient human population living on Japan's main island some 2,500 years ago. "Evidence at archaeological dig sites has been used to estimate the size of ancient human populations, but the difficulty and unpredictability of finding those sites is a big limitation," Jun Ohashi, an associate professor of human evolutionary genetics at the University of Tokyo, said in a news release. "Now we have a method that uses a large amount of modern data." Researchers estimate Japan was occupied by the Jomon people prior to 500 B.C. Around 2,500 years ago, they were joined by Yayoi people. The Yayoi migr...
