Bone Modeling Patterns and Morphometric Craniofacial Variation in Individuals From Two Prehistoric Human Populations From Argentina NATALIA BRACHETTA APORTA, 1,2 CAYETANA MARTINEZ-MAZA, 3 PAULA N. GONZALEZ, 1,4 AND VALERIA BERNAL 1 * 1 Divisi on Antropolog  ıa, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina CONICET 2 Consejo Interuniversitario Nacional (CIN), Argentina 3 Department of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Jos e Guti errez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain 4 CONICET, Instituto de Genetica Veterinaria, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, UNLP-CCT La Plata 1900, Argentina ABSTRACT Native human populations from South America display high levels of cra- niofacial variation encompassing gracile and robust skulls. Nevertheless, the processes of bone modeling by which morphological variation among popula- tions were attained, remain poorly understood. Here we analyze the relation- ship between patterns of bone formation and resorption and morphometric variation in the upper face of adults belonging to farmers and hunter-gatherers from northwestern and south Argentina. Our analyses reveal a common pat- tern of bone modeling of the malar bone characterized by the presence of for- mation areas. Thus, the larger size and greater development of malar bone exhibited by hunter-gatherers would be linked to a greater magnitude of bone formation activity. Conversely, the glabella and the superciliary arch presented both formation and resorption areas with a variable distribution among indi- viduals. In the extreme corresponding to more robust morphologies, the great development of the glabella is related to the presence of large formation fields, both in the upper region and toward the frontonasal suture. The less robust morphologies show resorption fields at the upper margin of the glabella, which would contribute to the weaker development of this region. The superciliary arch showed a complex relationship between its morphometric and histological variation; the individuals located at both extremes of the shape space presented large resorption areas located on its upper margin. Overall, our results show the existence of intraspecific variation in the patterns of bone modeling in the human upper face. Anat Rec, 00:000–000, 2014. V C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Key words: bone formation and resorption; geometric mor- phometrics; human face Grant sponsor: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient  ıfi- cas y T ecnicas PIP 0428; Grant number: 11/N691. *Correspondence to: V. Bernal, Divisi on Antropolog  ıa, Facul- tad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata. Argentina, E-mail: bernalv@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar or bernal.valeria@gmail.com Received 25 August 2013; Revised 24 January 2014; Accepted 3 June 2014. DOI 10.1002/ar.22999 Published online 00 Month 2014 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). THE ANATOMICAL RECORD 00:00–00 (2014) V V C 2014 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.