Abstract: In general, the orbit exhibits evolutionary trends and geographical variation in different populations of anatomically modern humans. The shape and size of the orbit are features that are important to human evolutionary research and to studies on familial relationship between human populations, and yet there are disagreements in how to interpret this data. In the present study, several features reflecting orbital shape were measured and observed in five modern Chinese populations, and in some late Pleistocene human fossils. The results of this research are: 1) in Chinese populations, the orbital size has experienced temporal changes during the evolutionary processes, and that there is clear regional variation in these changes since Neolithic to modern time; 2) the quadrate-shaped orbit has high frequency in Chinese populations since the Pleistocene and thus is probably a continuous and steady feature in this sample ; 3) rounding of the orbital infero2lateral margin has remained present since the Pleistocene, but its high frequency seemed to end in the Neolithic.

Key words: Orbital shape; Modern human populations; Temporal change; Regional variations