Kuzu people

This is the common name for bones that were discovered in a limestone mountain in Kuzu Town, Aso County, Tochigi Prefecture (now Sano City, Tochigi Prefecture) in the early 1950s and were believed to be fossilized human bones. There are a total of eight pieces, including fragments of the upper arm and femur excavated in 1950 (Showa 25) from a cave in Oganou, Kuzu Town, and fragments of the upper arm, femur, and mandible excavated in 1951 from a cave in Maekawahara, Yamasuge, in the same town, and were reported by Naora Nobuo. Naora gave the species name Homo ? tokunagai and the Japanese name Kuzu Homo, and dated it to the Middle Pleistocene. However, subsequent investigations revealed that eight of the bones had been misidentified as bear, tiger, and monkey bones, and in 2001, two of the human bones were examined using the Carbon-14 method, which revealed that they dated to around the 15th century. Currently, not a single confirmed fossil human bone remains.

[Harunari Shuji]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1950年代前半に栃木県安蘇(あそ)郡葛生町（現栃木県佐野市）の石灰山で発見され、化石人骨とされた骨の通称。葛生町大叶(おおがのう)の洞窟から1950年（昭和25）に出土した上腕(じょうわん)骨および大腿(だいたい)骨の破片、および同町山菅(やますげ)前河原の洞窟から1951年に出土した上腕骨、大腿骨、下顎(かがく)骨の破片など合計8点があり、直良信夫(なおらのぶお)によって報告された。直良はHomo? tokunagaiの種名と葛生原人の和名を与え、時代は中期更新世とした。しかしその後の調査により8点の骨のうちにはクマ、トラ、サルの骨の誤認があり、2001年（平成13）に人骨の2点を炭素14法などで調べた結果、15世紀頃の骨であることが判明し、現在では確実な化石人骨は1点も存在しない。

［春成秀爾］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例