chapter 11 calculation of stature

stature

• ie. height

• can be measured directly from the skeleton in two ways:

  • if all bones are present, stature can be measured directly from all the bones that contribute to total height, and summing them

  • if not all bones are present, stature can be estimated from the length of one or more bones using regression equations

what are some problems that arise when calculating stature?

• soft tissue is flexible and can influence hight measurements

• height of fresh cadaver lying down ay differ from standing height

• hanging a cadaver to measure height can cause soft tissues to stretch, leading to over-estimation

who developed the full body method?

george fully

why is it not ideal to reassemble the skeleton to measure its total length?

• the spine has curves which needs to be supported

• missing soft tissues needs to be estimated

stature is based on combined height of which areas?

• head

• spinal column

• leg

• foot

body height can be calculated by measuring the height of each areas but a correction must be added to account for the missing cartilage

what are the limitations of the full body method?

• can only be conducted when all the necessary elements are recovered

• very time consuming

• gives more observer errors

• requires extra work with little to no increase in accuracy

how to use regression equations

1. assess ancestry and sex to know which formula to use

2. and decide which bone to use. measure and select the appropriate formula

3. multiply by the factor and add the constant

problems with long bone method

1. measurement errors

2. limb proportions vary by population and by sex, so appropriate formulas must be used

3. stature should not be calculated if you cannot assess ancestry

4. secular trends: refers to non-evolutionary changes in human biology

5. stature loss in old age, older people get shorter as they get older

6. bone shrinkage