Extra-continental morphological affinities of Lapa Vermelha IV, Hominid 1:A multivariate analysis with progressive numbers of variables

Previous studies carried out by the authors have demonstrated that the firs t Americans, called Palaeoindians, do not show morphological resemblance wi th elder north Asians or modern Amerindians. In this paper the extra-contin ental morphological affinities of the earliest known American skeleton Lapa Vermelha IV,hominid I, dated to between 11,000 and 11,500 years BP are stu died, using comparative samples by HOWELLS (1989). Principal Component Anal yses were carried out based on 26, 36 and 45 variables. The relationships a mong the samples were expressed by means of graphs of principal component s cores and average linkage clustering. The results show that Lapa Vermelha i s clearly associated with Africans and Australians. This confirms our previ ous suggestion that the occupation of the Americas is more complex than we have assumed so far.