Tropical Trans-Saharan African Population Genesis: Craniological Aspect

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2020-51-3/261-279

Abstract

This article continues a study of cranial growth on the example of the population of tropical Trans-Saharan Africa. The cranial samples of Gabon, basin of the Congo River (the Western part), and East African farmers and Capoids – Bushmen and Hottentots (the Eastern part) were analyzed. Male and female cranial samples were studied separately. Crania of some samples clustered according to the type of growth processes in the crania. Comparative analysis showed that the cranial samples (and clusters inside them) from the West of the studied region, as a whole, differ significantly from those from the East in the shape of the skull. This is clearly seen in the male sample, but less obvious in the female one. The overall size of the cranium in the West is significantly more variable than in the East. This is because of a Pygmy admixture in the population of equatorial rainforest, which are associated with a small size of the cranium. There is no such difference between East African farmers and the craniologically similar Capoids (Bushmen and Hottentots). This leads to two main conclusions. First, the population of the Western (humid) part of Equatorial Africa formed as a mixture of larger-headed agricultural groups with Pygmies, who had smaller crania. Second, the agricultural population of the Eastern (more arid) part of the studied territory is almost identical in craniological terms to the Capoids (Bushmen and Hottentots) of South Africa, while differs significantly from the pastoralist population of this territory.

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