EFFECT OF PREMATURE SAGITTAL SUTURE CLOSURE ON CRANIOFACIAL MORPHOLOGY IN A PREHISTORIC MALE HOPI

Scaphocephaly is caused by premature sagittal suture closure. It restr icts medial-lateral growth of the cranial vault which appears longer a nd narrower than normal. We examined how this natural malformation aff ected morphology of the cranial base and face. A prehistoric adult mal e Hopi with scaphocephaly was compared to 19 normal male Hopi (0ld Wal pi Series, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL). Three-dimens ional coordinates of 53 landmarks were recorded on the cranial vault, cranial base, and face. Finite element scaling analysis was used to te st for significant differences between the scaphocephalic and normal i ndividuals in craniofacial morphology. Finite element scaling results indicated that scaphocephaly has a profound effect on cranial vault mo rphology. However, morphology of the cranial base and face were only s lightly affected and, typically, are within the normal range of variat ion for the sample. An abnormality in the cranial base is not associat ed with scaphocephaly in this individual.