Stature estimation in an early medieval (XI‐XII c.) Polish population: Testing the accuracy of regression equations in a bioarcheological sample

Abstract

Accurate stature estimation from skeletal remains can foster useful information on health and microevolutionary trends in past human populations. Stature can be estimated through the anatomical method and regression equations. The anatomical method (Fully: Ann Med Leg 36 [1956] 266-273; Raxter et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 130 [2006] 374-384) is preferable because it takes into account total skeletal height and thus provides more accurate estimates, but it cannot be applied to incomplete remains. In such circumstances, regression equations allow estimates of living stature from the length of one or few skeletal elements. However, the accuracy of stature estimates from regression equations depends on similarity in body proportions between the population under examination and those used to calibrate the equations. Since genetic affinity and body proportions similarity are not always clearly known in bioarcheological populations, the criteria for selection of appropriate formulae are not always straightforward. This may lead to inaccurate stature estimates and imprecise accounts of past life conditions. Prompted by such practical and theoretical concerns this study aimed at (1) estimating living stature in an early medieval (XI-XII c.) Polish sample (40 male; 20 female) through the anatomical method and developing population-specific regression formulae; and (2) evaluating the accuracy of estimates obtained with regression methods commonly employed in European populations. Results indicate that when applied to the skeletal remains from Giecz, our formulae provide accurate estimates, with non-age-corrected formulae performing better than age-corrected ones. Our formulae provide better estimates than those calibrated on recent populations and their use in medieval Polish populations is preferable.

Preliminary Investigations of The Bioarchaeology of Medieval Giecz (XI-XII C.): Examples of Trauma and Stress

“…Differences in genetic growth potential could contribute to differences in femoral length, however this is not suggested as the cause in this case because Giecz adults are relatively taller than other European counterparts from the medieval period (Vercellotti et al 2009;Vercellotti et al 2011). Additionally, Giecz adults are close in stature to a modern American population, suggesting that the genetic growth potentials of the two populations compared here are similar 1 .…”

“…The subadults do not represent the healthy children living in Giecz, but 1 A survey of adult stature in the US during this same time period (~1960) reports mean adult statures for males and females of 173 cm and 160 cm, respectively (Ogden et al 2004), while those estimated for Giecz are 172 cm and 157 cm, respectively (Vercellotti et al 2009). rather those who died before reaching maturity. It is possible that some suffered from chronic conditions that would affect their dental and skeletal development and therefore skew results, so results should be approached with caution.…”

Stature Estimation Measuring Left Foot Breadth in Indian Cadavers

“…4 There are methods like anatomical method and the mathematical method for stature estimation. 5 The anatomical method, more commonly referred to as the "Fully method" (George Fully 1956), has recently been re-examined in detail by Raxter et al , involves the summation of superoinferior measurements of contributory skeletal elements to determine stature as directly as possible; but it cannot be applied to incomplete remains. In such circumstances mathematical method allow estimates of living stature from the length of skeletal elements, which is related to derivation of formulae that can be applied directly to estimate stature from a given bone/part of the body.…”

Estimation of stature and body mass from the skeleton among coastal and mid‐altitude andean populations

“…Although such estimates obviously carry their own errors, they provide a basis for deriving samplespecific regression equations for use in less well-preserved archaeological individuals and/or samples (Raxter et al, 2006). Following recent revisions to and clarification of Fully's (1956;Fully and Pineau, 1960) anatomical stature reconstruction method (Raxter et al, 2006(Raxter et al, , 2007, there has been a florescence of studies presenting sample-specific regression equations using this approach (Auerbach, 2007;Auerbach and Ruff, 2010;Béguelin, 2011;Kurki et al, 2010;Maijanen and Niskanen, 2010;Raxter et al, 2008;Sciulli and Hetland, 2007;Vercellotti et al, 2009).…”