The Polynesian chin and mandible.
We noted the similarity in mandibular profile between a 27,000-year-old skull from China and a 160-year-old Polynesian skull. Both had a more vertical ramus, a curved inferior border, and no chin. The European mandible has a greater gonial angle, an antegonial notch, and a chin. Is the presence of a chin sufficient to distinguish European mandible from Polynesian? Can the gonial angle and ramus shape do so? A blind study of fifty mandibles of both groups and both sexes revealed that each feature alone can differentiate the sexes, but the combination is required, to differentiate European and Polynesian, and loosely group their provenances.
Dennison
John
J
Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. john.dennison@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Healey
David
D
Herbison
Peter
P
D002508:Cephalometry; D002680:Chin / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010164:Paleopathology; D011114:Polynesia; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D044465:White People / Q000266:history*