Still-unknown determinants of the cranial shape
Mizoguchi, Y.
Kaibogaku Zasshi. Journal of Anatomy 75(2): 197-206
2000
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-7722 PMID: 10824511 Document Number: 518002
Although the shape of the neurocranium has long attracted the attention of anthropologists, the causes and mechanism of its formation have yet to be fully elucidated. At least from medieval times to the present, the superior view of the human skull has changed from an anteroposteriorly long shape to a short one. This is called "brachycephalization." Why does such a phenomenon occur? Does the cranial shape have a functional meaning? Main investigations, especially statistical, which have been carried out on these problems up to now, will be presented here. Reviewing the results of the investigations, they suggest, at least, that the shape of the neurocranium is correlated not only with the muscles of mastication and the jaws but also with the vertebrae, ribs and pelvis inside of the body, and, outside of the body, associated with environmental factors such as temperature, wealthiness, etc. In order to determine the concrete causes and mechanism for the formation of the cranium, it is emphasized in particular that not only human skeletal remains but also the paleoenvironmental data that are accompanied with them should intensively be collected in the future.