Structured population differentiation in the early medieval Carpathian Basin revealed by cranial morphometrics

This dataset contains standardized cranial morphometric data and R scripts used in the study “Structured population differentiation in the early medieval Carpathian Basin revealed by cranial morphometrics.”The data include individual-level cranial measurements of male and female skulls from archaeological populations dated between the 1st and 11th centuries CE across the Carpathian Basin. The accompanying R scripts reproduce the key analyses of the publication, including: MANOVA analysis based on six standardized neurocranial measurements, using Pillai’s trace for multivariate group comparisons. Distance-based analyses, including computation of bootstrapped Canberra distances, hierarchical clustering (Ward’s method), and ordination methods (NMDS, PCoA, Procrustes, Shepard diagrams). The datasets are fully reproducible and anonymized. All individuals are identified only by archaeological context (site and period). Contents: S1_Dataset_males.csv – Individual-level cranial measurements (males) S2_Dataset_females.csv – Individual-level cranial measurements (females) R_script_MANOVA_standalone.R – Reproducible MANOVA script (males, females, combined) R_script_distance_ordination.R – Reproducible Canberra distance and ordination script Variables:Population (archaeological period), site, and six standard cranial dimensions:M1 (Glabella–Opisthocranion length), M5 (Basion–Nasion length), M8 (Euryon–Euryon length), M9 (Frontotemporale–Frontotemporale length), M17 (Basion–Bregma length), M20 (Porion–Bregma distance).Measurements follow the protocol of Martin and Saller (1957). Acknowledgements:Data collection represents several decades of anthropological research.Special thanks to László Szathmáry, Zsuzsanna Guba, Gábor Holló, Zsuzsanna Csóri, Emma Csoma, István János, Ivett Kővári, Zsuzsanna Gombácsi-Lenkey, and Ilona Tóth (University of Debrecen), and Antónia Marcsik’s research group (University of Szeged) for their contributions to data collection and curation. License: CC0 (public domain).Author: József Turtóczki (Magyar Gyula Horticultural Technical and Vocational Training School)Citation: Turtóczki, J. (2025). Structured population differentiation in the early medieval Carpathian Basin revealed by cranial morphometrics. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17371518