Editing Early modern human (section)

=== Braincase anatomy ===
{{further|Brain size}}
[[File:Sapiens neanderthal comparison en.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Anatomical comparison of skulls of ''H. sapiens'' (left) and ''H. neanderthalensis'' (right)<br />(in [[Cleveland Museum of Natural History]])<br />Features compared are the [[neurocranium|braincase]] shape, [[forehead]], [[browridge]], [[nasal bone|nasal bone projection]], [[cheek bone|cheek bone angulation]], [[chin]] and [[occipital bone|occipital contour]]]]
The cranium lacks a pronounced [[occipital bun]] in the neck, a bulge that anchored considerable neck muscles in Neanderthals. Modern humans, even the earlier ones, generally have a larger fore-brain than the archaic people, so that the brain sits above rather than behind the eyes. This will usually (though not always) give a higher forehead, and reduced [[supraorbital ridge|brow ridge]]. Early modern people and some living people do however have quite pronounced brow ridges, but they differ from those of archaic forms by having both a [[supraorbital foramen]] or notch, forming a groove through the ridge above each eye.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bhupendra |first=P. |title=Forehead Anatomy|url= https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/834862-overview |website=Medscape references |access-date=2019-05-06|date=April 2019 }}</ref> This splits the ridge into a central part and two distal parts. In current humans, often only the central section of the ridge is preserved (if it is preserved at all). This contrasts with archaic humans, where the brow ridge is pronounced and unbroken.<ref>{{cite web|title=How to ID a modern human?|url= http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2012/may/how-to-id-a-modern-human109960.html |website=News, 2012|publisher=[[Natural History Museum, London]]|access-date=11 December 2013}}</ref>

Modern humans commonly have a steep, even vertical [[forehead]] whereas their predecessors had foreheads that sloped strongly backwards.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Encarta, Human Evolution |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566394_9/human_evolution.html |encyclopedia= Encarta |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091029044339/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566394_9/Human_Evolution.html |archive-date=29 October 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref> According to [[Desmond Morris]], the vertical forehead in humans plays an important role in human communication through [[eyebrow]] movements and forehead skin wrinkling.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Naked Woman: A Study of the Female Body |chapter=The Brow |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Wa9zntiEKeAC&pg=PA22 |first=Desmond |last=Morris |author-link=Desmond Morris |year=2007 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0312338534}}</ref>

[[Brain size]] in both Neanderthals and AMH is significantly larger on average (but overlapping in range) than brain size in ''H. erectus''. Neanderthal and AMH brain sizes are in the same range, but there are differences in the relative sizes of individual brain areas, with significantly larger visual systems in Neanderthals than in AMH.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pearce |first1=Eiluned |last2=Stringer |first2=Chris |last3=Dunbar |first3=R. I. M. |date=2013-05-07 |title=New insights into differences in brain organization between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences |volume=280 |issue=1758 |page=20130168 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.0168 |issn=0962-8452 |pmc=3619466 |pmid=23486442}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Contemporary human endocranial volume averages at {{cvt|1350|cm3}}, with significant differences between populations, global group means range {{cvt|1085|-|1580|cm3}}.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Smith |first1=C. L. |last2=Beals |first2=K. L. |title=Cultural correlates with cranial capacity |journal=American Anthropologist |date=1990 |volume=92 |pages=193–200 |doi=10.1525/aa.1990.92.1.02a00150|s2cid=162406199 |s2cid-access=free}}</ref> Neanderthal average is close to {{cvt|1450|cm3}} (male average {{cvt|1600|cm3}}, female average {{cvt|1300|cm3}}), with a range extending up to {{cvt|1736|cm3}} ([[Amud 1]]).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Stringer |first=C |editor-last=Foley |editor-first=R |encyclopedia=Hominid evolution and community ecology |title=Human evolution and biological adaptation in the Pleistocene |year=1984 |publisher=Academic Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0122619205}}</ref>}}