| Abstract: |
This paper provides a description and analysis ofa late Pleistocene human from Liujiang, China. Although most scholars have interpreted the cranium as male, sexing of the pelvis has been more problematic. I argue that this ambiguity reflects variation in the pattern of sexual dimorphism in the pelvis between human populations in different region. Although the direction of the differences between males and females is generally the same, the magnitude of the male and female values differs regionally. When compared to appropriate Asian reference samples, the Liujiang pelvic specimen appears to be male, consistent with the cranium. Specifically, several conclusions result from this analysis
1. The Liujiang specimen (including both the cranium and postcrania) is, in fact, male, 2. There are significant regional variations in pelvic morphology and furthermore, in the pattern of sexual dimorphism in pelvic morphology and finally, 3. The pattern of pelvic dimorphism seen today in Asia may extend into the past. More generally it appears that the well-established polytypic nature of human morphological variation can be extended beyond cranial morphology to include aspects of pelvic morphology and sexual dimorphism in pelvic morphology.
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