Age changes of skull dimensions.

At cranial level, external apposition during ageing has been postulated by some authors. In longitudinal studies, a gradual increase of cranial diameters has been shown by cephalometry (Kendrick et al. 1967) or by lateral radiography (Israel 1968, 1970). However, these results are contested at methodological level by other longitudinal studies (Tallgren 1974). It is the aim of this study to analyse, in a cross-sectional sample, the effects of senescence on several cephalic dimensions. A series of skulls of known age and sex has been selected for this purpose.