Cranial bone thickness in non-adults from the Zaghunluq Cemetery (650–150 BCE) in the Iron Age Western Regions, Northwestern China

Cranial bone thickness is one of the most measured features in biological anthropology and medicine. In this study, the cranial bone thickness was investigated in an Iron Age non-adult mortuary sample from the Western Regions in China, to characterize the changes of cranial bone thickness in growth. The results demonstrated that the cranial vault thickness of non-adult increased gradually with age. The overall growth spurt period of the cranial bone thickness occurred at 67 years old, with variations in different bones. Cranial thickness and overall shape of the skull will be achieved after 15 years or older. These findings enrich our knowledge of bone and head growth in prehistoric children, and have application potentials in functional morphology, paleoanthropology, and forensic anthropology studies.