This page contains links to a variety of raw data files, including CT scans of Homo floresiensis and measurements of human and non-human primate skeletons. Most of these files contain skeletal and dental dimensions from recent, early Holocene and terminal Pleistocene modern human (H. sapiens) samples from Australasia and East Asia. The majority of these data have been recorded by Peter Brown, using the procedures outlined in his publications. You are welcome to use the information on this page as long as it is not for commercial gain and the source is acknowledged. Other data files contain anthropometric data recorded by Andrew Abbie and Joseph Birdsell from living Australian Aborigines between 1938 and 1963. Non-human primate skeletal and dental data (Pan and Macaca) were added in 2021. CT scan data for LB1 Homo floresiensis and modern humans added in 2013 and 2021.
Thanks go to the following institutions for allowing access to their collections: South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia; Department of Anatomy, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria; Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China; Natural History Museum, London, England; Department of Anatomy, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Peoples Republic of China; Department of Anatomy, Sydney University, Sydney, NSW; Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria; Department of Anatomy, Tohoku University Medical School, Sendai; National Science Museum, Tokyo; Primate Research Centre, Kyoto University; Monkey Centre Kyoto, Natural History Museum, New York; Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren; Powell-Cotton Museum, Birchington, Kent.
While I am willing to provide the information on this page as a service to graduate students and the palaeoanthropological community I am not willing to enter into lengthy correspondence about the data files and how particular dimensions were recorded. I do not have the time to do this, and for most of the data files, the published literature should provide sufficient background information.
Graduate students and researchers who have an interest in 3D reconstruction of human and nonhuman primate skeletons from CT data should consider joining the NESPOS Society https://www.nespos.org/display/openspace/Join+NESPOS
If you have any problems downloading the data files below please contact Peter Brown pbrown3@iinet.net.au
1. Modern, cranial, postcranial and dental metrics
groups: male and female adult Australian Aborigines from the Murray River Valley and Swanport, modern male and female Southern Chinese from Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, modern male Northern Chinese from Shanxi and Hebei Provinces, male and female Romano-Britains from Poundbury, 18th and 19th century Europeans from Christs Church, Spitalfields, London.
total sample size: 648
number of variables: 210
variable labels: see cranvlist.zip
missing data: indicated by -9
comments: Lots of missing data. The Spitalfields, Southern Chinese and Northern Chinese samples are of known age and sex. A large number of the Southern Chinese only have tooth breadth data as teeth were the primary interest of the Prince Phillip Dental Hospital where this collection was housed and storage space was restricted.
| variable list in text format. | cranvlist.txt |
| data file in Microsoft excel (xls) format | crandataxls.xls |
2. Australian Aboriginal postcranial metric data
groups: male and female adult Australian Aborigines from the Murray River Valley, Swanport and South Australia. The skeltons were part of the "George Murray Black" collection in the Department of Anatomy, University of Melbourne which was reburried in 1984 and the South Australian Museum. None of skeletons were collected in the course of controled archaeological excavation.
total sample size: 341
number of variables: 231
variable labels: see auspcvartxt.zip
missing data: indicated by -9
comments: Lots of missing data. These skeletons were measured between 1980 and 1995 for a variety of different projects. Most of the skeletons come from the Murray River region of south-eastern Australia, with the remainder from the eastern half of South Australia.
| variable list in text format. | auspcvarlist.txt |
| data file in Microsoft excel (xls) format. | auspc.xls |
Brown, P. 2010. Nacurrie 1: mark of ancient Java, or a caring mother's hands, in terminal Pleistocene Australia. Journal of Human Evolution 59: 167-187.
3. Andrew Abbie's Australan anthropometric data
Between 1951 and 1963 Andrew Abbie collected anthropometric data from Australian Aborigines at Yalata, Yuendumu, Haast's Bluff, Beswick, Maningrida and Kalumburu. These data were used in a variety of his publications, in particular those supporting his views about Australian morphometric variation and its origins. More recently, Abbie's data were re-analysed by Gabriele Macho and Leonard Freedman (1987). While the original data file contains a wide range of anthropometric observations, from limb lengths to eye colour, only body proportion data are provided here.
References
Macho, G. and Freedman, L. 1987. A re-analysis of the Andrew A Abbie morphometric data on Australian Aborigines. Occasional papers in human biology 4: 1-80. (Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra)
Birdsell, J.B. 1993. Microevolutionary patterns in Aboriginal Australia. Oxford University Press.
groups: male and female Aborigines from South Australia (Yalata), central Australia (Yuendumu and Haast's Bluf) and northern Australia (Kalumburu, Beswick, Maningrida).
total sample size: 1232
number of variables: 21
variable labels: see abbievar.zip
missing data: indicated by a decimal point or period (.)
comments: Abbie's original data were stored on punch cards. Unfortunately, after Abbie's death and before the data could be stored on tape, the card order was disturbed. This is a problem for a relatively small number of cases in the data file. The easiest way to pick this up is with a series of scatter plots, for instance between stature and some other variable, which will identify outliers. Then remove the outliers. While I have a data file which I think is correct I prefer not to prejudice the work of others with my own judgements.
A more substantial problem concerns the methods and standards used by Abbie in recording his data. They are not adequately described in his publications and comparison of some of his results with those recorded by others provides reason for concern. For instance, the siting height to stature ratio that can be calculated from information in Birdsell (1993) is substantially different to what you would obtain from Abbie's data.
| variable list in text format. | abbievarlist.txt |
| data file in Microsoft excel (xls) format. | abbie.xls |
4. Australian Terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene cranial, mandibular and dental metrics
groups: male and female adult Australian Aborigines from Coobool Creek and Kow Swamp, individual fossils from Lake Mungo, Nacurrie, Keilor, Mossgeil, Talgai, Lake Nitchie, Cohuna and Willandra Lakes.
References: Brown, P. 1989. Coobool Creek. Terra Australis 13, Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University: Canberra;
Brown. P. 1987. Pleistocene homogeneity and Holocene size reduction: the Australian human skeletal evidence. Archaeology in Oceania 22: 41-67.
Brown, P. 2010. Nacurrie 1: mark of ancient Java, or a caring mother's hands, in terminal Pleistocene Australia. Journal of Human Evolution 59: 167-187.
total sample size: 57
number of variables: 134
variable labels: see auspliovlist.zip
missing data: indicated by -9
comments: Lots of missing data. Sex of Lake Mungo 3 uncertain. Age at death of Lake Mungo 1 uncertain. Dimensions of Lake Mungo 1 reduced by cremation process. Postmortem distortion a problem with some of the Kow Swamp crania. Some of the crania from Coobool Creek, Kow Swamp and Nacurrie are artificially deformed. See Australian Index for additional information.
| variable list in text format. | auspliovlist.txt |
| data file in Microsoft excel (xls) format. | ausplioxls.xls |
5. Chinese Neolithic and more recent cranial and dental metrics (Yang-Shao, Lung Shan, Shang, etc)
groups: male
and female adults from Baoji, Huaxian, Hejiawan, Xixiahou, Changzhi,
Dawenkou, Hemudu, Jiangzhai, Miaodigou, Wangying, Xiaxihe, Xiawanggang,
Yingxu, Haiyuan, Hedang, Yanbulaka, Xunhua, Yangshan, and "Europeans"
from Yanbulaka .
total sample size: 237
number of variables: 134
variable labels: see chdatavlist.zip
missing data: indicated by -9
comments: Some missing data. Data previously used in Brown (1999). Skeletal material housed in the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, collections in Beijing, Xian and Anyang, and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology collection in Beijing.
references:
Brown, P. 1999. The first modern East Asians?: another look at Upper Cave 101, Liujiang and Minatogawa 1. In K. Omoto (ed) Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Origins of the Japanese. pp. 105-124. International Research Center for Japanese Studies: Kyoto.
Brown, P. and Maeda, T. 2004. Post-Pleistocene diachronic change in East Asian facial skeletons: the size, shape and volume of the orbits. Anthropological Science 112: 29-40..
Institute of Archaeology. 1991. Radiocarbon dates in Chinese Archaeology 1965-1991. Cultural Relics Publishing House: Beijing.
| variable list in text format. | chdatavlist.txt |
| data file in Microsoft excel (xls) format. | chdataxls.xls |
6. Tohoku modern Japanese, cranial and dental metrics
groups: known sex and age adult and juvenile modern Japanese crania from the Tohoku modern collection in the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. About 200 skeletons were collected at between 1900 and 1942, along with records giving for each individual the place and date of birth, as well as date and cause of death. Most of them were born in Tohoku district (northern part of Japan). Thanks to Tomoko Maeda, Tohoku University School of Medicine, for information about the Tohoku Modern Collection.
total sample size: 59
number of variables: 69
comments: Some missing data. The written records for this collection appear fairly accurate. However, two of the "female" adult crania were morphologically and metrically male. Includes data on orbit volume and area.
missing data: indicated by -9
reference:
Brown, P. and Maeda, T. 2004. Post-Pleistocene diachronic change in East Asian facial skeletons: the size, shape and volume of the orbits. Anthropological Science 112: 29-40..
| Microsoft Excel file | tohoku modern.xls |
7. Joseph Birdsell's Australian anthropometric data
In the 1930's and 1950's U.S. anthropologist Joseph Birdsell made two expeditons to Australia to collect anthropometric and genetic (blood antigen) data from Aboriginal communities. The first expedition, starting in 1938, was a collaborative project beteween Harvard and Adelaide Universities and the South Australian Museum. In the second expedition, starting in 1952, UCLA replaced Harvard. For both expeditions, Birdsell's major collaborator was Norman Tindale of the South Australian Museum (see http://archives.samuseum.sa.gov.au/aa689/provlist.htm and http://www.anu.edu.au/linguistics/nash/aust/nbt/obituary.html). After Joseph Birdsell's death in 1994 the archive containing the records of his expeditions was donated to the South Australian Museum. The archive was subsequently curated and organised by Patricia Lindsell, who transcribed Birdsell's data, from the original data cards, for use in her Ph.D. research project (Lindsell 2001).
Birdsell argued that the geographic pattern of variation that he found, supported his belief that Australia was originally colonised by several, biologically distinct, founder populations. Patricia Lindsell (2001) thorough reanalysis of these same data concluded that the continent wide pattern of variation, and the ecogeogrphic context that it was associated with, were consistent with the ecogeographic clines found in other parts of the world. Body form variation reflecting evolution in relation to the impact of climate on physiology. Similar results, using Birdsell's data, were obtained by Gilligan and Bullbeck (2007).
total sample size: 1439 men 917 women
number of groups: 57 male and 45 female, based on tribal or culture area affiliation
number of variables: a total of 128 variables but different sets of dimensions were recorded in the two expeditions. Data identifying individuals has not been included. See Birdsell 1993 for details on measurement procedures and dimensions.
number of data files: There are two data files, 1: 1938 expedition, 766 cases, 2: 1952-53 expedition, 1590 cases.
comments: Birdsell's original data were stored on cards. These have been carefully transcribed by Patricia Lindsell, and others. The accuracy of Birdsell's original measurements and the extent to which his original data cards contain errors, are difficult to assess. However, there is every indication that Joseph Birdsell was an extremely careful scholar.
Birdsell 1938 expedition. Microsoft excel format (xls). |
Birdsell 38 data.xls |
|---|---|
Birdsell 1952-1953 expedition. Microsoft excel format (xls). |
Birdsell 52-53 data.xls |
References:
Birdsell, J.B. 1993. Microevolutionary patterns in Aboriginal Australia. Oxford University Press.
Lindsell, P. 2001. Bergmann, Alen and Birdsell: patterns of ecogeographic adaptation in Aboriginal Australians.Ph.D. thesis, University of New England.
Gilligan, I & Bulbeck, F 2007, Environment and Morphology in Australian Aborigines: A re-analysis of the Birdsell Database. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 134. 75-91.
8. Chimpanzee (P. troglodytes, P. schweinfurtii) and Bonobo (P. paniscus) cranial, postcranial and dental metrics
These date were collected by Peter Brown and Tomoko Maeda and used to estimate expected morphological distances between species, in a descriptive comparison of the Homo floresiensis mandibles (Brown and Maeda 2009: online supp. material). Morphometric distances between H. floresiensis and H. sapiens was greater than between the chimpanzee species and bonobo's.
groups: male and female adult, wild caught, chimpanzee's and Bonobo's from collections in the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Natural History Museum (London) and Powell-Cotton Museum, Birchington
total sample size:171
number of variables:78
variable labels: see chimpanzeevarlist.zip
missing data: there is some missing data.
| variable list in text format. | chimpanzeevarlist.txt |
| data file in Microsoft excel (xls) format. | chimpanzeedataxls.xls |
References:
Brown, P., Maeda, T., 2009. Liang Bua Homo floresiensis mandibles and mandibular teeth: a contribution to the comparative morphology of a new hominin species. J. Hum. Evol. 57, 571-596.Brown and Maeda 2009.pdf
9. Homo erectus, H. habilis and LB1 H. floresiensis craniometrics.
Homo erectus (Africa, China, Indonesia, Dmanisi), H. habilis (Lake Turkana, Olduvai Gorge) and LB1 H. floresiensis craniometric data used to examine morphological distances between H. floresiensis and other hominins in Brown et al. 2004. Data collected from published sources and direct measurement. Postmortem damage is common for the basicranium and facial skeleton.
groups: Pooled sex H. erectus crania from Lake Turkana, Olduvaii Gorge, Hexian, Zhoukoudian, Sangiran, Trinil, Ngandong, Sambungmacan, and H. habilis from Lake Turkana and Olduvaii Gorge. Early/Archaic H. sapiens (H. heidelbergensis) from several localities.
total sample size: H. erectus 59, H. habilis 9, others 10.
number of variables:192
variable labels: see data file.
missing data: As you would expect from working with the poor preservation common in fossil crania, lots of missing data.
| data file in Microsoft excel (xls) format. | erectusdataxls.xls |
References:
10. Homo floresiensis LB1cranium and mandible CT raw data file (DICOM format zip compressed).
This the original CT scan data for the LB1 cranium and mandible recorded in 2003 by Peter Brown, Mike Morwood and Thomas Sutikna. CT scan recorded before Jacob and associates damaged the LB1 cranium and mandible, some of the postcrania and LB6 mandible in 2015. For details see Brown et al. (2004) and Brown (2012). palaeoanth@iinet.net.au.
CT parameters:Siemens Emotion CT scanner, Jakarta Selaton, Indonesia. Parameters included a 512*512 matrix, 2mm collimation, 1 mm reconstruction interval, and a H70s reconstruction kernel. Standard hospital resolution CT scan.
file size: 39.1 Mb
total sample size: LB1 H. floresiensis cranium and mandible.
number of slices:lb0001-lb0145
data format: DICOM
| data file in DICOM format, zip compression | LB1 dicom 2.zip |
References:
Brown, P. 2012. LB1 and LB6 Homo floresiensis are not modern human (Homo sapiens) cretins. Journal of Human Evolution 62, 201-224.
11. Homo floresiensis postcrania raw data files (DICOM format zip compressed).
This the original CT scan data for the LB postcrania recorded in 2005 by Peter Brown, Mike Morwood and Thomas Sutikna. For details see Brown et al (2004), Morwood et al. (2005) and Brown (2012). The legs are in a separate CT scan file. If you are using this file for research you should contact Peter Brown.palaeoanth@iinet.net.au
CT parameters:Siemens Emotion CT scanner, Jakarta Selaton, Indonesia. Parameters included a 512*512 matrix, 2mm collimation, 1 mm reconstruction interval, and a H70s reconstruction kernel. Standard hospital resolution CT scan.
file size: 160.9 Mb and 61.3 Mb
total sample size: LB1 postcrania (15 bones) and LB leg (3 bones).
number of slices:88822994-88866556, 80035965-80063733
data format: DICOM
