ing bone, as is true of the Taung child's endocast and the newest hominid 

 endocast from Swartkrans. 



Thus, an endocast— though simply a concretion of matrix— is full of 

 character. And, too, it may reflect antemortem injury to a cranium, such 

 as a depressed fracture (Figure 8). 



Both natural and artificial endocasts provide us with a ready means of 

 determining the capacity of a fossil cranium. A third method may be em- 

 ployed when a cranium is empty and is reasonably intact: the cranium may 

 be filled with a relatively slightly compressible medium such as millet seed. 

 The volume of seed required to fill the brainpan may then be determined. 





CMS 



Figure 6: Two views of a baboon endocast from Makapansgat. The detailed 

 anatomy of this part of the brain had been vividly etched on the 

 endocranium, making possible the formation of this superb natural 

 endocast. (A) impression of vermis of cerebellum; (B) impression of 

 sigmoid sinus coursing over the surface of the cerebellar hemisphere; 

 (C) impression of anterolateral pole of cerebellar hemisphere; (D) im- 

 pression of the large subarcuate fossa which characterizes the posterior 

 surface of the petrous temporal of cercopithecoids; (E) impression of 

 the internal acoustic meatus— in effect, this stump represents the seventh 

 (facial) and eighth (vestibulo-cochlear) nerves. 



7 £ 



