Inaug.-diss.--München. / Lebenslauf. "Einschlägige literatur": leaf following p. 154.

The Matjes River Rock Shelter, in the Plettenberg Bay region of South Africa, has a large collection of archaeological cranial remains representing 8,000 years of occupation. Forty-three adult crania from the Matjes River collection are studied here, many which have not previously been published. These crania are compared through multivariate analysis with other dated crania from Fish Hoek, Cape Flats, Elands Bay, Port Elizabeth and Kenkelbosch, and with archaeological crania from five ecological biomes, Forest, Fynbos, Nama Karoo, Savanna, and Succulent Karoo biomes in southern Africa. Historical southern African populations, KhoeSan (31) and South African Negroid (120) crania, are also used to compare the affinities of the Ma~es River individuals. The sample sizes within this study are small and an attempt has been made to address this issue by the use of multiple analytical methods and multiple 'tests' of variable sets to improve the statistical significance of results. This study, incorporating the largest collection of Matjes River individuals, uses principal components analysis to show the individuals to be a single biological population and illustrates with Euclidean distance statistic strong morphological similarities between the individuals. From principal component analysis, and discriminant function analysis there is no determination of morphological differences between the crania on the basis of geographical or environmental differentiation. Overall the KhoeSan crania in this study show homogeneity in form. Holocene gracilisation is seen in the dated crania through principal components analysis. The temporal changes found also indicate a change over time relating to nasal height measurements, while Spearman's rank correlation coefficient found no temporal shape changes occurring between the dated samples. Interestingly, discriminant analysis classification found non-KhoeSanid morphology is represented by several dated individuals as early as 9,000 years BP. This indication of non-KhoeSanid morphology may hint at possible admixture of the KhoeSan population with outsiders, but is a stronger indicator that origins of KhoeSan craniofacial patterns are not yet fully understood.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1977.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1977.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1934. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 242-248).

Inaug. - Diss. (Ph. D.)--Zurich.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The current study examines cranial variation of contemporary East Asians with an aim to comprehensively describe and define the morphology of people in this region. In doing so, a better understanding of the causes of variation within East Asia and compared to other geographic populations is sought. The study encompasses a broad range of samples from Northeast Asia to island Southeast Asia. Traditional linear and angular data and analytical methods (e.g Box and Whisker, Principal Components Analysis) were used to assess cranial variation. Thus the results may be compared to published studies using traditional craniometric approaches. Innovative geometric morphometric data collection and analysis techniques are also used here for the first time. Results show East Asians are distinguishable from non-Asians on the basis of their tall, round, vault, shorter cranial length, tall faces that are flattened in the upper and mid-facial regions, short malars (anteroposterior length), narrow interorbital breadth and orthognathism. A north-south East Asian cline was also detected, with the northern samples exhibiting tall, orthognathic faces, and a long low vault. This long, low vault shape is in contradiction to the purported shape of cold-climate adapted populations. Southern East Asians possess a tall, rounded vault and a short, projecting (prognathic) face. Island Southeast Asians inhabiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands exhibit a 'mixed' morphology, possessing the southern East Asian facial form, but the long, low vault seen in northern East Asian samples. The long, low vault also characterises non-Asian samples from Australia, Africa and Melanesia. Shape differences were significantly associated with latitude, explaining most of the variation. The identification of ancestral East Asian features in recent samples suggests phylogenetics may also be contributing to variation in part. The study concludes that there is clear evidence for geographical variation among modern East Asians, some if it being continuous (clinal) and some discontinuous. Importantly, much of the variation reflects adaptation to climate, with a phylogenetic component also recognised. The study contributes to our understanding of human evolution in a region that today constitutes around half of the world?s population.

The current study examines cranial variation of contemporary East Asians with an aim to comprehensively describe and define the morphology of people in this region. In doing so, a better understanding of the causes of variation within East Asia and compared to other geographic populations is sought. The study encompasses a broad range of samples from Northeast Asia to island Southeast Asia. Traditional linear and angular data and analytical methods (e.g Box and Whisker, Principal Components Analysis) were used to assess cranial variation. Thus the results may be compared to published studies using traditional craniometric approaches. Innovative geometric morphometric data collection and analysis techniques are also used here for the first time. Results show East Asians are distinguishable from non-Asians on the basis of their tall, round, vault, shorter cranial length, tall faces that are flattened in the upper and mid-facial regions, short malars (anteroposterior length), narrow interorbital breadth and orthognathism. A north-south East Asian cline was also detected, with the northern samples exhibiting tall, orthognathic faces, and a long low vault. This long, low vault shape is in contradiction to the purported shape of cold-climate adapted populations. Southern East Asians possess a tall, rounded vault and a short, projecting (prognathic) face. Island Southeast Asians inhabiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands exhibit a 'mixed' morphology, possessing the southern East Asian facial form, but the long, low vault seen in northern East Asian samples. The long, low vault also characterises non-Asian samples from Australia, Africa and Melanesia. Shape differences were significantly associated with latitude, explaining most of the variation. The identification of ancestral East Asian features in recent samples suggests phylogenetics may also be contributing to variation in part. The study concludes that there is clear evidence for geographical variation among modern East Asians, some if it being continuous (clinal) and some discontinuous. Importantly, much of the variation reflects adaptation to climate, with a phylogenetic component also recognised. The study contributes to our understanding of human evolution in a region that today constitutes around half of the world?s population.