A Craniometric Study of Adult Humans Skulls from Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract: The study aims at determining the cranial indices of some skulls recovered from cadavers sourced from Southwestern regions of Nigeria, mainly populated by Yoruba ethnic tribe. The cranial indices of 85 human skulls were determined by measuring the maximum cranial length (mcl) and maximum cranial breadth (mcb) using Goniometre fitted with sliding calliper. The cranial index was determined by finding the percentage of the ratio mcb to mcl x100. The skulls were deemed from adult individuals because of their complete teeth eruption and obliteration of sutures. Gross sexual dimorphic characteristics such as size and overall expression of cranial features (pronounced mastoid process, strong brow ridge) were used to divide skulls into 56 males and 29 females. The mean cranial indices for male and female skulls examined were 72.97±2.16 and 71.72±2.48, respectively, thus putting them in the dolichocranic population. There were no significant differences in the cranial indices of the male and female skulls (p>0.05). Thus cranial index is not sexually dimorphic in the studied skulls. The result of this study will be of forensic anthropologic importance to the populations from where the skulls were sourced.
 

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