noun
- plural of craniologist; scientists or scholars who study the structure and characteristics of skulls, especially in relation to human variation and evolution
Usage: academic/scientific term; historical: the field of craniology was prominent in 19th and early 20th centuries but is now largely superseded by modern anthropology and genetics
Examples
- Early craniologists attempted to classify human populations based on skull measurements.
- The museum's collection of skulls was studied by craniologists in the 1800s.
- Modern anthropologists have largely abandoned the methods used by 19th-century craniologists.
- Craniologists of that era believed skull shape could indicate intelligence and character.
- The work of historical craniologists is now recognized as pseudoscientific by contemporary scholars.