A geometric approach to cranial sexual dimorphism in fossil skulls from Předmostí (Upper Palaeolithic, Czech Republic)

A b s t r a c t. The recently rediscovered glass plate negatives of unique skeletal fossil material from Před-mostí – their estimated ranges from 25–27 000 years but they were destroyed during World War II – were studied by means of geometric morphometrics. The aim of this study was to determine the sexual shape variability of the best preserved skulls of adult individuals, using the methods of statistical shape analy-sis. While the results roughly support Matiegka’s sex estimation, skull 1 (Matiegka’s female) is more sim-ilar to males. The differences between the skulls of the Předmostí specimens are “more striking ” in the lateral, frontal and vertical views, whereas the inter-sexual differences affect the non-affine parts of changes in vertical, lateral and basal views in particular. The areas of the metopion, glabella, auriculare, porion, asterion, gnathion and opisthocranion landmarks present more striking variations, i.e. those with more discriminatory power. According to the computations made of the various skull distances, the male skulls are more similar to each other and the female skulls less similar. This suggests possible patrilocal behaviour on the part of the males. Geometric morphometrics, shape analysis, 2D landmarks, thin-plate splines, 3D order penalty, partial warps, sexual dimorphism, Upper Palaeolithi