Secular Changes of Cephalic Index in Korean Adults / 체질인류학회지

ABSTRACT

From the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, human head has been changed from an anteroposteriorly long shape to a short one. This phenomenon is called "brachycephalization" Somatometric data showed the rapid brachycephalization of Korean in twentieth century. The causes of brachycephalizaion have not been yet fully elucidated. Secular trends of head length, head breadth were studied. Height was added for comparison. A sample of 1,568 Korean adults was measured. The cephalic index was calculated and compared with the previous reported data. The head length and head breadth were increased continually during the last hundred years. But the latter was more increased than the former. Therefore, the increase of head breadth has been thought to be the main cause of brachycephalization. The pattern of secular changes of cephalic index of Koreans showed close relation to that in height. These findings were more evident in females than in males.