Cranial Variation and Microevolution in Arikara Skeletal Populations

Abstract

Crania from six archaeological sites in South Dakota are analyzed. Chronologically the sites fall into two groups, an early group and a late group, with A.D. 1750 as the approximate boundary between them. It is shown that the late group is morphologically diverse, while the early group is relatively homogeneous. The morphological pattern is related to the increasing intensity of evolutionary processes as the contact period progressed.