Genealogical Position of Native Taiwanese (Bunun Tribe) in East Asian Populations Based on Tooth Crown Morphology

The 17 tooth crown traits of the Bunun, one of the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, were observed and classified, and their frequencies were compared with Sinodonts and Sundadonts defined and classified in East Asian populations by TURNER (1987), in order to estimate the genealogical position of the Bunun tribe in East Asia. In the respective comparisons of the 17 traits, the Bunun have considerable resemblance to Sinodonts on shoveling (UI1), double shoveling (UIl) and deflecting wrinkle (LM 1), while on tuberculum dentale (UI2), cusp 5 (UM1) and 4-cusp (LM2), they have considerable resemblance to Sundadonts. Furthermore, cluster analysis and principal co-ordinate analysis based on SMITH's MMDs among the Bunun and other East Asian populations, using all the observed traits, revealed that the Bunun are similar to the Yami (Taiwan aborigine), the North ChinaMongolian and the South Chinese in East Asia, and belong to, if anything, the Sinodonty cluster. Considering the above results and the estimated distribution of Sinodonty and Sundadonty in the past and the present, it cannot be reasoned that Taiwan aborigines had Sinodont characteristics since their ancestors reached Taiwan, but that Sinodontification by Chinese mainlanders has been superimposed on to the native Sundadonty who seem to have come up from the south to Taiwan. The beginning of Sinodontification in Taiwan may have been earlier than in Japan.