The fourth Sterklontein cranium to yield an estimate of cranial capacity 

 is that designated Sterkfontein 7 in the 1950 monograph by Broom and 

 Robinson. It is catalogued in the Transvaal Museum as Sts 71. Schepers 

 (1950) estimated its endocranial capacity as 480 to 520 cc, and this range of 

 values I have employed in my tables.* 



Other values have been claimed on the basis of very fragmentary 

 remains from Sterkfontein. For example, "Plesianthropus type 2" was esti- 

 mated at 510 to 580 cc by Schepers in 1946 and 520 to 540 cc by Schepers 

 in 1950, whilst, by highly indirect reasoning, the cranium associated with the 

 large mandible, Sts 7, was estimated to have a capacity of "well over 700 

 cc and perhaps more than 750 cc" (Broom and Robinson 1948). Along 

 with Le Gros Clark (1947, 1964) and other workers, I have not accepted 

 these estimates in my tabulations, since the supporting evidence is not 

 convincing. 



Thus, the 4 Sterkfontein values 

 that seem to have most evidence to 

 support them and, accordingly, to 

 be the more reliable ones are as 

 follows: 



It is stressed that these are all published data based on earlier recon- 

 structions or, in the case of Sts 5, on an actual capacity determination. I 

 have made no new determinations, reconstructions, or estimates on the 

 Sterkfontein crania.f 



Makapansgat. Only 1 of the approximately 40 australopithecine 

 hominid remnants from the Makapansgat Limeworks Deposit (MLD) is 

 suitable for making a reliable estimate of cranial capacity. The specimen 

 known as MLD 37/38 from the pink breccia is a beautifully preserved 

 cranium including the entire and undistorted braincase as far forward as 

 the vicinity of the coronal suture (Dart 1962) (Figure 9). The vault is filled 

 with a natural endocast in position. It is impossible to enucleate the endocast 

 from the calvaria without destroying the vault-bones (parietals, temporals, 

 and occipital). In size and shape MLD 37/38 is very similar to the Sterk- 

 fontein cranium, Sts 5. It is, however, somewhat wider, shorter, and lower 

 than Sts 5. Dart opined, very reasonably in my view: 



• The value obtained by Holloway (1970b) was smaller, namely 428 cc. 



f The values obtained by Holloway (1970b) on new reconstructions from these 4 crania are, 

 respectively, 428, 485, 428, and 436 cc. 



17 & 



