Abstract: This article includes the description and discussion of cranial non metric and metric traits of ancient human remains exhumed from the Shamaoshan cemetery in Yiliang County, Yunnan Province. Cranial morphological features suggest that the Shamaoshan skeletal materials shows an inclination towards the Mongolian, especially Eastern Asiatic Mongoloids. According to the results of statistical analysis, the Shaomaoshan population’s closest genetic affinity is with the almost contemporary Wayaogou population in the middle or lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Huoshaogou population in northwest China.

Key words: Skull; Metrical morphology; Non-metric; Continuous traits; Physical anthropology; Dian culture