Application of virtual anthropological techniques in the reconstruction and analysis of late Middle and Late Pleistocene hominin crania

Abstract

In this cumulative dissertation, I employed virtual anthropological techniques and advanced reconstruction in order to analzye fragmentary and understudied fossil crania from Europe and eastern Africa. In doing so, this dissertation aimed to answer the following research questions: “1) What is the taxonomic attribution of the Kabua 1 cranium? 2) Does the morphology of the Cioclovina suprainiac region represent the Neanderthal condition? 3) Are suprainiac depressions in later Homo symplesiomorphic?” Overall, this dissertation stresses the need for holistic qualitative and quantitative methods to address current issues in the field of paleoanthropology. Additionally, this dissertation emphasizes the effectiveness of recently developed technologies and virtual anthropology to bring new light to historic paleoanthropological finds.