Scaling Relationships Between Cranial Morphological Features
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 11-15-2017 Scaling Relationships Between Cranial Morphological Features and Cranial Capacity in Modern Humans Jacob Jesch Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Jesch, Jacob, "Scaling Relationships Between Cranial Morphological Features and Cranial Capacity in Modern Humans" (2017). LSU Master's Theses. 4356. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/4356 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SCALING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CRANIAL MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES AND CRANIAL CAPACITY IN MODERN HUMANS A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Jacob Jesch B.A., Louisiana State University, 2013 December 2017 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Robert G. Tague, and my thesis committee members, Dr. Ginesse A. Listi and Dr. Mary J. Brody, for their assistance. I would like to thank the Louisiana State University Department of Geography and Anthropology for providing the opportunity to pursue a thesis project as well as the financial assistance I received during my time as a graduate student via a departmental graduate assistantship. Additionally, this research was funded in part by a Robert C. West Graduate Student Field Research Award from the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University. I would like to thank the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, for allowing me access to the W.M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. I am grateful to Dr. Dawnie W. Steadman for accepting my research request and compiling a suitable sample for my research purposes. I would also like to thank Jieun Kim for her onsite assistance with any questions I had. I would like to thank my colleagues Ashley M. Franklin and Karen W. Beebe for their motivational support and friendship during my time as a graduate student at LSU. Their help and input kept me going whenever I needed assistance. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my family. Their love and commitment over these twenty-six years of my life have been the most invaluable source of joy I could imagine. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Literature Review ...........................................................................................................3 2.1 Human Brains ..............................................................................................................3 2.2 Hominid Evolution and Encephalization .....................................................................4 2.3 Brain Size, Body Mass, and Cranial Morphology .....................................................13 2.4 Evolutionary Selective Pressures on Cranial Morphology ........................................18 2.5 Research Question .....................................................................................................22 Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................................................23 3.1 Research Sample ........................................................................................................23 3.2 Statistical Analysis .....................................................................................................31 Chapter 4: Results ..........................................................................................................................33 Chapter 5: Discussion and Interpretation .......................................................................................59 5.1 The Trilinear Scaling Model ......................................................................................59 5.2 Differential Cranioregional Scaling ...........................................................................64 5.3 Sexually Dimorphic Scaling ......................................................................................77 5.4 Expanding the Sample ...............................................................................................83 Chapter 6: Conclusion....................................................................................................................88 References ......................................................................................................................................91 Vita ...............................................................................................................................................102 iii List of Tables Table 1. Australopithecus Cranial Capacity, Body Mass, and EQ ........................................7 Table 2. Homo Cranial Capacity, Body Mass, and EQ........................................................10 Table 3. Cranial Capacity Estimates for Selected Samples of Late Pleistocene/ Holocene European Homo sapiens ........................................................................12 Table 4. “Orbital” Predictor Features ..................................................................................25 Table 5. “Basicranial” Predictor Features ............................................................................26 Table 6. Male Direct Cranial Predictor Features Sample Mean, Standard Deviation, and Sample Size ...................................................................................34 Table 7. Male Derived Cranial Predictor Features Sample Mean, Standard Deviation, and Sample Size ...................................................................................34 Table 8. Female Direct Cranial Predictor Features Sample Mean, Standard Deviation, and Sample Size ...................................................................................35 Table 9. Female Derived Cranial Predictor Features Sample Mean, Standard Deviation, and Sample Size ...................................................................................35 Table 10. Male Cranial Vault Dimensions Sample Mean, Standard Deviation, and Sample Size .....................................................................................................36 Table 11. Female Cranial Vault Dimensions Sample Mean, Standard Deviation, and Sample Size .....................................................................................................36 Table 12. Male Estimated Cranial Capacity Sample Mean, Standard Deviation, and Sample Size .....................................................................................................36 Table 13. Female Estimated Cranial Capacity Sample Mean, Standard Deviation, and Sample Size .....................................................................................................36 Table 14. Student’s T-Test Comparison of Male and Female Sample Means for Cranial Predictor Features, Cranial Vault Dimensions, and Estimated Cranial Capacity.....................................................................................................37 Table 15. Correlation Analysis of Cranial Predictor Features and Maximum Cranial Length ....................................................................................................................38 Table 16. Correlation Analysis of Cranial Predictor Features and Maximum Cranial Breadth ...................................................................................................................40 iv Table 17. Correlation Analysis of Cranial Predictor Features and Maximum Cranial Height .....................................................................................................................43 Table 18. Correlation Analysis of Cranial Predictor Features and Estimated Cranial Capacity .................................................................................................................45 Table 19. Qualitative Interpretation of Absolute Values of Correlation Coefficients ...........53 Table 20. Mean Correlation Coefficients and Coefficients of Determination for Statistically Significant Correlations between Cranial Predictor Features and Maximum Cranial Length, Maximum Cranial Breadth, Maximum Cranial Height, and Estimated Cranial Capacity ...................................................53 Table 21. Correlation Analysis of Cranial Predictor Features and Age at Death ..................56 v List of Figures Figure 1. Equally-Weighted Unilineal vs. Trilinear Scaling Model among Brain Size, Body Mass, and Cranial Predictor Features of Body Mass ..........................23 Figure 2. Anatomical Landmarks for Directly Measured “Orbital” Predictor Features