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.