ABSTRACT
This contribution will look at a particularly effective method of curvature-based analysis of two-dimensional outlines. See Kampel and Zambanini (Chapter 5, this volume), who introduce the general idea of curvature-based analysis. I apply this method to examine global and localized differences in the endocranial outline of a small sample of fossil hominins and modern humans. A previous morphometric study (Bookstein et al. 1999), which used procrustes analysis of semi-landmarks, compared the endocranial outlines of 21 fossil hominins and modern humans provided a surprising result. Specifi cally, that the shape of the mid-sagittal endocranial frontal bone profi le of the fossil and modern humans was very similar. The fossil hominin sample used in the Bookstein et al. study consisted of three Homo heidelbergensis (Bodo, Kabwe, and Petralona), the Spanish Atapuerca SH5 cranium (possibly proto-Neanderthal), and a “classic” Homo neanderthalensis skull, Guattari I.
