Significant Association between Cranial Length and Sacral Breadth: Toward the Solution of the Brachycephalization Problem

Abstract

The metric data of the neurocranium and the sacrum from 30 male and 20 female Japanese were examined through multivariate analyses. In result, significant associations were found between cranial length and the sacral breadths at the upper and middle levels both in males and in females. From these findings and previous studies, it is inferable that the form of the maternal pelvic inlet has been and is still one of the most important determinants for the neurocranial form in modern human populations, and that the close correspondency in form between the neurocranium and the pelvis is now fixed as a population character.