Craniofacial changes of ancient populations lived in different eras in Anatolia

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The aim of our study is to determine the changes in craniofacial dimensions among populations lived in Anatolia from different time periods. Eight skulls from the second century AD, 20 skulls were from the tenth-eleventh centuries AD, 20 skulls from the sixteenth-nineteenth centuries AD, and 60 contemporary skulls were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Using computerized tomography scans, five craniofacial dimensions were enrolled: glabella-occipital length (GOL), maximum width (MW), basion-bregma height (BBH), bizygomatic width (BZW), nasion-prosthion height (NPH). The differences of craniofacial dimensions between eras, the effect of sex and/or era on craniofacial dimensions were investigated. The GOL dimensions of the second century AD group were found to be significantly higher than contemporary skulls, and the tenth-eleventh century AD group were also found to be significantly higher than sixteenth-nineteenth century AD group and contemporary skulls (p < 0.001). NPH dimensions of tenth-eleventh century AD group were found to be significantly lower than contemporary group (p = 0.002). The main effect of sex, era, and sex-era interaction on GOL was found statistically significant (p = 0.004, p < 0.001, and p = 0.017, respectively). Only sex had a statistically significant effect on BZW (p < 0.001). Our study showed that GOL has decreased and NPH has increased over the centuries in Anatolian societies. Both sex and era influence the change of GOL.