Craniometric measurements are used to prove Tibetan-Han common descent.

Evidence

In conclusion, as demonstrated by the results of an investigation into the special characteristics of the heads and faces of contemporary Tibetans, their heads and faces are fundamentally similar to those of various other nationalities of our country, in particular to those of our country’s north and north-west (including the Han and national minorities). It is beyond doubt that the Tibetans and the other nationalities of our country descend from a common origin and belong, from the point of view of physical characteristics, to the same East-Asian type of yellow race [huangzhongren de Dongya leixing]. (Zhang, 1985) As a theory of common descent is constructed by scientific knowledge, the dominant Han are represented as the core of a “yellow race” which encompasses in its margins all the minority populations. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3350

Categorization

• XREF: Craniometry as state legitimation echoes 19th-century phrenology and Nazi race science; also resonates with how measurements were used to target populations in the anthropological literature the reader keeps.
• BMF: flagged by the selector, no supporting note recorded