Coobool Creek : a prehistoric Australian hominid population
Abstract
Morphological, univariate and multivariate comparisons of the crania,
mandibles and dentitions from Coobool Creek place them within the Kow Swamp
range of variation and distinguish them from other prehistoric and recent
Australian populations.
The Coobool Creek crania are distinguished from ’recent’ Murray
Valley crania by a matrix of morphological and metrical features which
reflect the combination of an archaic morphological pattern with the effects
of a specific cultural practice, artificial cranial deformation. Analyses
of the Coobool Creek orofacial skeletons support earlier work with the Kow
Swamp series in indicating a temporal trend towards structural reduction in
the central Murray River Valley over the last 10,000 years.
A similar temporal trend towards size reduction is also present in
the mandibles and dentitions from this region. On the available evidence there
appears to have been a fairly rapid reduction in the size of the masticatory
complex during the period 10,000 to 6,000 years BP followed by apparent
stability. There is little evidence for a causal relationship between the
temporal changes in the masticatory system and culture for the Murray River
Valley during this period.
Morphological and metrical features of the Coobool Creek crania,
mandibles and dentitions support the argument for a regional morphological
continuum with the Indonesian Homo eveotus material.