Prehistoric human morphological variation in Australia

Abstract

This thesis seeks to account for patterns of variation of non-metric traits of the skull in Australian Aboriginal skeletal populations. Forty-five features are examined for variation in 38 samples, comprising over 2500 individuals. Two complementary methods are used to describe the data. These are logistic regression and cluster analysis. The former tests the concordance of trait variability to geography (longitude and latitude), 3 clinal effects (east and south coasts and Murray River), a comparison of islands to mainland Australia (Tasmania, Torres Strait and Melville) and an investigation of the relative importance of time and space variation in the Upper Murray. Cluster analysis of a pairwise distance matrix, calculated by the Mean Measure of Divergence, has been used to examine population affinities. Trait frequencies are significant., associated with factors of geography. These are interpretable as clines :;;panning the continent, the east coast and the River Murray. From the multivariate results, two major divisions are identified, a large northern and a much smaller southeastern zone. The River Murray stands out as a region of extreme diversity. The identification of small regional patterns as clines and clusters gives rise to an interpretation of variation based mainly on gen~ flow. It in suggested that diversity is the result of gene flow and the particular spatial relationships that restrict flow.