title: An alternative approach for estimating stature from long bones that is not population- or group-specific.
abstract: An accurate and precise estimate of stature can be very useful in the analysis of human remains in forensic cases. A problem with many stature estimation methods is that an unknown individual must first be assigned to a specific group before a method can be applied. Group membership has been defined by sex, age, year of birth, race, ancestry, continental origin, nationality or a combination of these criteria. Univariate and multivariate sex-specific and generic equations are presented here that do not require an unknown individual to be assigned to a group before stature is estimated. The equations were developed using linear regression with a sample (n=244) from the Terry Collection and tested using independent samples from the Forensic Anthropology Databank (n=136) and the Lisbon Collection (n=85). Tests with these independent samples show that (1) the femur provides the best univariate results; (2) the best multivariate equation includes the humerus, femur and tibia lengths; (3) a generic equation that does not require an unknown to first be assigned to a given category provides the best results most often; (4) a population-specific equation does not provide better results for estimating stature; (5) sex-specific equations can provide slightly better results in some cases; however, estimating the wrong sex can have a negative impact on precision and accuracy. With these equations, stature can be estimated independently of age at death, sex or group membership.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada; Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Electronic address: albanese@uwindsor.ca.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albanese
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tuck
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada; Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Hugo F V
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Cardoso
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050280:Arm Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D001827:Body Height; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D006811:Humerus / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D007867:Leg Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011884:Radius / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013977:Tibia / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Forensic Anthropology; Lisbon Collection; Non-specific; Stature equations; Terry Collection