ESTIMATION OF STATURE

• Jurisdiction: Australia

[35.560] Stature estimation is an important marker of biological profile in the individual missing person. It is also important in the inclusion and exclusion of people in mass disasters and mass graves.

Stature estimation is largely based upon the high correlation between long bone lengths (limb length) and observed stature (body height). Stature may be estimated in two ways:

(1) summing the lengths of all bones that contribute to stature; essentially lower limb bones, vertebrae and cranial height, and adding a soft tissue component: Dwight (1884); Full (1956); Fully and Pineau (1960); Bidmos (2005); Baxter et al (2006); and
(2) using regression formulae to estimate stature from a single long bone or bone fragment: Stevenson (1929); Trotter and Gleser (1952; 1958); Shitai (1983); Boldsen (1984); Meadows and Jantz (1995); Ousley (1995); Jantz and Jantz (1999); De Mendonca (2000).

Estimating stature using the complete skeleton is potentially more accurate than the regression approach, particularly if the latter is based on a single bone, but it requires a complete skeleton for successful application unless the investigator is prepared to estimate the heights of missing elements. It has been found that differences exist in body proportions between the sexes and between different population groups meaning that there is a need for sex- and population-specific prediction formulae: Stevenson (1929); Trotter and Gleser (1952l; 1958); Shitai (1983); Boldsen (1984); Meadows and Jantz (1995); Jantz and Jantz (1999); De Mendonca (2000).

The height prediction...