The Buhl burial: A comment on Green et al.

Green et al.'s (1998) recent contention that the Buhl Paleoindian craniofac ial attributes are similar to other North American Indians and East Asian p opulations is tested here through a principal components analysis based on 16 cranial measurements. The analysis involved the comparison of the crania l morphology of the the Buhl specimen with 26 Howells' modern populations. We also added to the analysis the craniometric data regarding a firmly esta blished South American Paleoindian skull (Lapa Vermelha IV, Hominid I), tha t shows craniofacial similarities to Africans and Australians. The results corroborate the ideas presented by Green et al.(1998) and Neves et al. (199 8a). They suggest that the Americas were colonized in early times by two di fferent populations, one of generalized generalized sapiens, and another of classic Mongoloids, with a short interval of time between the migratory ev ents.