engleski

Neandertal face: some morphological observations

Neandertal faces are quite characteristics and have been studied numerous times. Likewise, several models have been proposed in order to explain some of their morphological peculiarities (such as supraorbital and nasal morphology, as well as the morphology of their infraorbital and lateral facial region). Technical novelties which allowed for a more accurate way of data collecting, reconstruction, and description of anatomical details, along with the developments in the field of geometric morphometrics during the last decade allowed for a novel insight into the old problems. This study uses the methods and tools of so-called 3D geometric morphometrics on a chosen sample of Mid and Late Pleistocene humans in the attempt to better visualize and describe geometric properties of their faces. Further, the results of this study are compared to previous studies and explanatory models of Neandertal (mid) facial morphology. The advantages of 3D geometric morphometrics are that it: preserves the original geometry of the landmark configurations at all times during the analysis ; allows for a better visualization and description of shape changes, and ; allows more investigative freedom during the process of the analysis. The results suggest that Neandertal facial morphology stems from a combination of plesiomorphic morphology upon novel pressures (e.g. biomechanical) and changes are added, resulting in a complex pattern. It is this complex pattern, rather than any single detail, that should be considered as Neandertal apomorphy.

Neandertals; geometric morphometrics; human evolution; Pleistocene

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