There are six subspecies of Japanese deer found across the Japanese archipelago: Ezo deer, Honshu deer, Kyushu deer, Yakushima deer, Mageshika, and Kerama deer. In particular, the latter four subspecies are smaller in stature than the former two and can be classified as small Japanese deer. In the island regions of Honshu and in parks where geographical isolation has progressed, one can observe both large Japanese deer, which are appropriately called Honshu deer, and small Japanese deer similar to Kyushu deer.
A small deer antler (Fig. 4) excavated in the 40th excavation of the Hakata archaeological sites (Tomioka 2011, Fukuoka City Board of Education 1990) and held in the collection of the Fukuoka City Center for Buried Cultural Properties, which is estimated to date to the medieval period (14th century), exhibited characteristics unique to aged small Japanese deer.
Although the Hakata archaeological sites contain animal remains imported from overseas, as evidenced by the excavation of artifacts from abroad, this specimen was identified as a small Japanese deer native to Japan based on the nature of the carving, which consists of granules on the antler surface and traces of arteries.
As shown by the deviation line in Figure 3, this specimen is characterized by an extremely small base and an extremely short first tine (deviation of approximately -4). This reduction in the size of the first point is a phenomenon also observed in the Tohoku region, where many large individuals are found even among the Honshu deer population; while geographical differences must be taken into account, it has been pointed out that the effects of malnutrition resulting from aging (senescence), population density, and forage distribution must also be considered as possibilities. The results of this study include findings from surveys conducted as part of the Fukuoka City History Compilation Project.
