Morphological Evaluation of Cephalic Phenotypes in Purana (old) Inhabitants at Sigiriya Suburbs, Sri Lanka

This study was designed to determine the cephalic phenotypes of adult Purana (ancient) inhabitants living in the suburbs of Sigiriya, Sri Lanka, whose ancestry goes back to, the times of Sinhalese Kings, 5th century A.D. (1,450 YBP). One hundred and seven adult male and 206 female individuals belonging to Purana pedigree without craniofacial deformity were used as primary samples for the study. The head length and breadth were measured accordingly to the standard procedures as described in the literature and cephalic index and cephalic phenotype were determined for each individual. The study revealed that mean head length (18.2 cm) and mean head breadth (14.4 cm) of male were significantly higher than mean head length (17.5 cm) and mean head breadth (13.9 cm) of female, respectively (P< 0.05). The mean cephalic index was 79.40 in male and 81.00 in female. The dominant type of cephalic phenotype in male was mesocephalic (41%) followed by brachycephalic (29%), dolicocephalic (20%) and hyperbrachycephalic (10%). In females, dominant type of cephalic phenotype was mesocephalic (34%) followed by brachycephalic (32%), dolicocephalic (17%) and hyperbrachycephalic (17%). The common cephalic phenotype of the Purana population, irrespective of gender, was mesocephalic (35%). The data of the study will be useful to anthropologists, anatomists and forensic experts etc.