This chapter describes the skeletal morphology of the people of the wider Pacific, and looks for reasons for any distinctiveness. There is more here about the head than about the infra-cranial skeleton. Partly – and without denying the complexities of locomotor function and adaptation – this is because the head skeleton really is the more complex structure, reflecting its diverse functions. Partly the imbalance simply reflects that not very much research has been done on the morphology of the infracranial skeleton of the people of the wider Pacific. Because differences in form between groups are often distinctive, the head certainly has had more anthropological attention.

The head

A succession of anthropological studies has meticulously recorded Oceanic craniofacial dimensions and compared them with data from other regions (eg, Scott 1894; Flower 1896; Duckworth 1900; Thomson 1915–17; Wagner 1937; Shapiro 1943; Marshall and Snow 1956; Shima and Suzuki 1967; Snow 1974; Pietrusewsky 1969, 1983; Howells 1973a, b, 1989; for the extensive earlier European literature see Wagner 1937). Though not always stated, the aim of these studies seems generally to have been classificatory or taxonomic. Earlier studies were limited to simple statistical comparisons, and placed particular emphasis on indices and the form of the cranial vault. Advances in statistical method have led to multivariate analyses of an impressive amount of data, often with equally impressive depictions of cluster analyses.

In general, these craniological studies in Oceania have not sought to establish the reasons for any distinctive features – and some are very distinctive – but have been content to note that they exist.