Antropologia Virtual: novas metodologias para a análise morfológica e funcional

Bioanthropology examines skeletal morphology to infer diverse aspects of the funerary behaviour and palaeobiology of past populations. Conventional morphological metric (morphometrics) analysis has typically used linear measurements, ratios and angles. Yet, such quantifications do not allow visualization of the morphological differences nor prediction of the mechanical performance of bones (which may induce morphological differences between populations with diverse behaviours). Virtual Anthropology, which musters several techniques deriving from the exponential technological development of the past decades, provides new approaches to the analysis and understanding of the examined populations. Here, we summarize the techniques used in Virtual Anthropology and how this discipline may augment our understanding of the populations under study