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The following image shows two skulls - the one on the left is known as Pintubi-1. The one on the right is a modern Caucasian.

It is claimed by many people and sites to be representative of the modern aboriginal people [1][2][3].

The skull features of the Australisoid race are very characteristic. With a squared jaw, very pronounced brow and unique dental features, this race is possibly the easiest to distinguish. This Specimen was found in New South Wales, Australia in the early 1900's and is believed to have been a member of the Bindaboo Tribe. - [1]

The Aboriginal skull in the pictures fits the typical description for "Australoids" since they have the largest browridges. If you're interested in what other races' skulls look like, here's the 3 basic groups. The Caucasoid/white skull is just the most commonly portrayed one, which is why other groups' skulls sometimes look "primitive" to people. - [3]

Given the apparent large morphological differences, is it true that this skull is representative of the Aboriginal people?

Photo of Pintubi-1 and caucasion skull

Jonathon
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  • Why would you reword the question and then put it on hold? – Jonathon Aug 17 '15 at 13:13
  • Also that is not the question I came with. The general claim is that the skull on the left is representative of the current aboriginal community. I am skeptical of this, but I cannot find any other aboriginal skulls to compare it to (type "aboriginal skull" into google and that is the one you get over and over again). I am not in the least skeptical that there have existed deformed individuals throughout history. Or that there have been some very different looking homo sapiens throughout history. – Jonathon Aug 17 '15 at 13:22
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    I put the question on hold, because it needed a substantial edit to make it a good question. Then I edited it. I was just about to reopen it, but you've disputed that it is the question you want, so I will leave it On Hold while we sort that out. – Oddthinking Aug 17 '15 at 13:24
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    I haven't found anyone that claims that it is "representative", merely that it is an example of a ~200-year-old skull. If you have an example of someone making that claim, please edit it in. When you say "throughout history", I get confused. The claim is that it is quite a recent skull. – Oddthinking Aug 17 '15 at 13:28
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    Well you are the expert, I just don't find the question you are asking interesting, or really representative of the claim made about it. People do not tote out this picture to make a claim about archaeology/excetera. It is used by racists to claim that there exist current differences within humanity (of this magnitude). – Jonathon Aug 17 '15 at 13:28
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    I'm not an expert on paleoanthropology. If this skull is used by racists to make dubious claims, find some examples, link to them and quote them, so we know exactly what the claim is, and we are not attacking strawmen or non-notable claims. – Oddthinking Aug 17 '15 at 13:32
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    OK, I think I got the question into a state that covers everything you asked for. Thanks for all the help Oddthinking P.S. Also, I meant Skeptic.SE expert. – Jonathon Aug 17 '15 at 14:04
  • OK. Wow the official way to move a discussion to chat is actually to spam messages until the site suggests the discussion be moved to chat. OR Just create a specific room manually. So I just created: http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/27352/28781-chat Already posted my response. – Jonathon Aug 24 '15 at 17:46

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