ABSTRACT
Physical anthropology has made substantial contributions to understanding the biological relationships and origins of the people who occupy Oceania (including Australasia), and the neighbouring continental landmass of East Asia and Southeast Asia. This corpus of biological data, too numerous to review in a single chapter, includes measurements and somatological studies of living people, genetic studies beginning with traditional blood group antigen marker data, and more recently, molecular genetic evidence such as mtDNA and Y-chromosome data. Another source of biological data is that provided by the human skeletal record, both ancient and modern. It is this latter evidence, specifically measurements recorded in the skulls of modern and near-modern indigenous inhabitants of Oceania, East Asia and Southeast Asia, that is the focus of this chapter.
