title: Cranium asymmetry in a modern Greek population sample of known age and sex.
abstract: The aim of this paper is to evaluate and quantify cranium asymmetry, sexual differences in the set of individual asymmetry scores, and the relationship between fluctuating asymmetry and age, in a modern Greek population sample. In addition, we test for the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis by assessing the correlation between fluctuating asymmetry and cause of death. The study sample consisted of 173 crania of known sex and adult age (92 males, 81 females) belonging to individuals who lived in Greece during the twentieth century. The three-dimensional coordinates of 77 ectocranial landmarks were digitized using a Microscribe 3DX contact digitizer and landmark configurations were analyzed using the generalized least-squares Procrustes method. Regarding directional asymmetry, the results show that the human skull has a tendency for a left-side excess for the Greek population. No significant directional asymmetry differences between the sexes are found. The highest levels of fluctuating asymmetry for both sexes are located on the skull base. The levels of fluctuating asymmetry in all cranial regions appear higher for males than females. Nevertheless, these differences do not present any statistical significance between sexes. Additionally, there is no relationship between fluctuating asymmetry scores and age for both males and females. Finally, the results of this study could not confirm that early development has a significant impact on adult health outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 52 Souidias Street, 106 76, Athens, Greece. chovalopoulou.eleni@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maria-Eleni
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8187-8031
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Chovalopoulou
authors.affiliation: Department of History and Ethnology, Demokritus University of Thrace, 1 P. Tsaldari Street, 69100, Komotini, Greece.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Papageorgopoulou
authors.affiliation: Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 52 Souidias Street, 106 76, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertsatos
mesh_terms: D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton; D059925:Anatomic Landmarks; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D054881:Sex Determination by Skeleton; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
keywords: Cranium; Directional asymmetry; Fluctuating asymmetry; Geometric morphometrics; Greece; Modern population