Raleigh, NC, USA. A study of hundreds of Spanish and Portuguese skulls that span four centuries shows that differences in the craniofacial features of men and women have become less pronounced.

While the features for both sexes changed over time, the changes have been particularly significant in modern Spanish females, who exhibit a facial structure that is much larger than common in the 16th century, a difference that may stem from improved nutrition or other environmental factors.


Physical anthropologists conduct systematic and precise and systematic measurement to determine the overall appearance and relationships among the bones of the human skull, primarily the cranium and facial areas. The information obtained is useful in forensics and facial reconstructions, which can illuminate the details and history of physical remains.



Researchers found that craniofacial differences between contemporary men and women are less pronounced than they were in the 16th century.However, classification by craniofacial structure does not necessarily coincide with genetic ancestry or social self-identification. A considerable amount of additional detail is necessary to get a full picture of how the deceased lived and died.



Ann H. Ross is an associate professor of anthropology at North Carolina State University and the principal investigator of the study.The researchers in this case paid particular attention to structural differences between male and female skulls because “this can help us establish the sex of the remains based on their craniofacial features,” says anthropologist Dr. Ann Ross.

“Improving our understanding of the craniofacial features of regional groups can help us learn more from skeletal remains, or even help us identify an individual based on his or her remains.” This is particularly important when an incomplete skeleton is found.

“Being able to tell if a skull belonged to a man or woman is useful in both criminal investigation and academic research.”

The researchers looked at more than 200 skulls dating to 20th and 16th century Spain, as well as approximately 50 skulls from 20th century Portugal. Assessing the 16th century skulls was important to the researchers because it allowed them to determine how the different features of male and female skulls have changed over time. Their findings appear in the journal Forensic Science International.

“This has applications for characterizing older remains,” Ross says. “Applying 20th century standards to historical remains could be misleading, since sex differences can change over time — as we showed in this study.”

The study also found that the craniofacial sexual differences were very similar between Spanish and Portuguese populations, implying that standards developed for identifying sex in Spanish skulls could also be applied regionally.

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