North Carolina State University researchers have found that the facial structures of men and women in Spain have become less distinct over time. 
 
 Dr. Ann Ross, study leader and an associate professor of anthropology at North Carolina State University, and a team of researchers, have discovered that the craniofacial features of Spanish and Portuguese men and women have become more and more similar since the 16th century. 
 
 Ross and her colleagues made this discovery by comparing over 200 skulls from 16th to 20th century Spain. They also looked at 50 skulls from 20th century Portugal. By paying particular attention to the craniofacial features, they found that male and female skulls from the 16th century were more distinct than in the 20th century. 
 
 For instance, modern Spanish women have larger facial structures than Spanish women from the 16th century. These larger facial structures are much closer to the size of men's facial structures. According to Ross, improved nutrition may be one of the reasons for the increased size of female craniofacial features. 
 
 Ross and her colleagues looked into the changing features of male and female skulls in order to better understand exactly how they've changed over time, which can help researchers identify the sex of remains based on these features. Also, this knowledge could be helpful to academic research and criminal investigations. 
 
 "Improving our understanding of the craniofacial features of regional groups can help us learn more from skeletal remains, or even help us identify an individual based on his or her remains," said Ross. 
 
 Ross also found that the craniofacial differences between men and women were similar between Portuguese and Spanish populations. This means that the Spanish standards for distinguishing between remains of different sexes could be applied regionally. 
 
 "This has applications for characterizing older remains," said Ross. "Applying 20th century standards to historical remains could be misleading, since sex differences can change over time - as we showed in this study." 
 
 This study was published in Forensic Science International. 

 Research from North Carolina State University shows that they really don't make women like they used to, at least in Spain. The study, which examined hundreds of Spanish and Portuguese skulls spanning four centuries, shows that differences in the craniofacial features of men and women have become less pronounced. 
 
 "Improving our understanding of the craniofacial features of regional groups can help us learn more from skeletal remains, or even help us identify an individual based on his or her remains," says Dr. Ann Ross, an associate professor of anthropology at NC State and principal investigator of the study. The researchers looked at more than 200 skulls dating to 20th and 16th century Spain, as well as approximately 50 skulls from 20th century Portugal. 
 
 Researchers found that craniofacial differences between contemporary men and women are less pronounced than they were in the 16th century. The researchers also found that, while craniofacial features for both sexes in Spain have changed over time, the changes have been particularly significant in females. For example, the facial structure of modern Spanish females is much larger than the structure of 16th century females. This difference may stem from improved nutrition or other environmental factors. 
 
 The researchers paid particular attention to structural differences between male and female skulls because "this can help us establish the sex of the remains based on their craniofacial features," Ross says -- which is particularly important when an incomplete skeleton is found. "Being able to tell if a skull belonged to a man or woman is useful in both criminal investigation and academic research." 
 
 Assessing the 16th century skulls was important to the researchers because it allowed them to determine how the different features of male and female skulls have changed over time. "This has applications for characterizing older remains," Ross says. "Applying 20th century standards to historical remains could be misleading, since sex differences can change over time -- as we showed in this study." 
 
 The study also found that the craniofacial sexual differences were very similar between Spanish and Portuguese populations, implying that standards developed for identifying sex in Spanish skulls could also be applied regionally. 
 
 A paper describing the research, "Implications of dimorphism, population variation, and secular change in estimating population affinity in the Iberian Peninsula," is forthcoming from the journal Forensic Science International. The paper was co-authored by Ross; Dr. D.H. Ubelaker of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History; and Dr. E.H. Kimmerle of the University of South Florida. The work was funded, in part, by the National Institute of Justice. 
 
 NC State's Department of Sociology and Anthropology is part of the university's College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
– Anthropologists comparing ancient skulls to modern ones say it's getting harder to tell the girls from the boys. North Carolina State researchers who examined skulls from Spain and Portugal going back to the 16th century say that the differences between male and female specimens have diminished over the ages, reports DailyTech. Specifically, modern women have larger facial structures, closer to the size of men's, possibly because of better nutrition. "This has applications for characterizing older remains," says the lead researcher, according to Science Daily. "Applying 20th-century standards to historical remains could be misleading, since sex differences can change over time—as we showed in this study."