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Empiric evidence indicates that the general distribution of the cephalic index is explicable in terms of climatic adaptation. Based on a sample of 339 populations, the magnitude of the index is statistically different between zones of predominantly dry heat, wet heat, wet cold and dry cold. There is an inverse relationship between the mean cephalic index and temperature. It is argued that the occupation of cold climates is one of the circumstances increasing the frequency of brachycephaly through time.

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Significant associations of cranial shape for 82 ethnic groups and seven climate variables are described. Variation among current populations is partially attributed to cold adaptation throughout the Pleistocene. Application of data files tabulated by the authors is described for a number of problems. Temporal distribution of 115 specimens indicates a geometric trend (CI = 76.7-1.96 log time X 10(3) ). Cranial indices are summarized within alternative taxonomic models and between climatic ecotypes. Evidence supports the hypothesis of cold adaptation among "Classic" Neandertals. Limitations of the thermodynamic model are discussed. It is probable that a decrease of the cranial index occurs from the Middle to Upper Paleolithic. During the Holocene, the index increases under all climatic conditions.

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His research interests are methods of investigation of prehistoric populations (especially from cremated human bones), mechanisms of inter-and intragroup differentiation, and the paleobiology of pre-and early Slavonic groups. Among his publications are "Problems of the Morphological Differentiation and the Determination of Interdependence of Traits in the Structure of Vertebrae in Man" (Glasnik Antropoloskog Drustva Jugoslavije 10:13-20); "Polish Methods and Results of Investigations of Cremated Bones from Prehistoric Cemeteries" (Glasnik Antropoloskog Drustva Jugoslavije 12:23-34); and "Natural Selection and Microevolutionary Changes in Non-Metrical Traits in Medieval Populations from Poland" (Studies in Physical Anthropology [Wroclaw], in press). JAN STRZALKO is Docent in Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology of A. Mickiewicz University. Born in 1943, he received his doctorate in natural sciences, anthropology, in 1968 and his habilitation in 1974 from that university. His research interests are the morphogenesis and evolution of the human skeleton, formal and populational problems in somatotypology, and the methodological aspects of biocultural evolution. His publications include "Role of the Temporal Muscle in the Morphogenesis of the Skeleton of the Face" (Przeglhd Antropologiczny 36:3-24); with A. Malinowski, "The Muscles of Mastication and Cranial Proportions in Primates" (Folia Morphologica [Warszawa] 31:207-13); and "Variability of Human Internal Organ Size and Their Connection with Body-Build Type" (Przeglad Antropologiczny 40:217-49). The three authors have worked together since 1974 in a research program on the biological history of human populations, the details of which are spelled out in "Anthropology and Biological Changes of Human Populations," by Strzalko, Piontek, and Henneberg (Przeglad Antropologiczny 41:159-72).. Other joint products of the program include "Theoretico-Methodological Presuppositions and Possibilities of Investigating the Biology of Prehistoric Populations in Central Europe," by Henneberg and others (Przeglad Archeologiczny 23:187-231), Wstep do ekologii populacyjnej czlowieka (Introduction to Human Populational Biology), by Strzalko, Henneberg, and Piontek (Poznant, 1976), and "Durability of Living Systems: Origin and Role of Culture" (Poznaniskie Studia z Filozofli Nauki, in press). The present paper, submitted in final form 10 v 77, was sent for comment to 50 scholars. The responses are printed below and nre fnollwe1l bv a renlv hv the aiithnrcs 'This work is part of Section IA of the Biological History of Human Populations Research Programme.