Calcaneal measurement in estimation of stature of South African blacks

Stature (height) is an important factor in establishing the identity of a person in the living as well as in the skeletonized state. When stature is estimated from the bones of the limbs, regression equations, which estimate the ratios of the lengths of bones to the height of the individual, are generated. The majority of bones that were used previously were the long bones. The calcaneus was used for estimating stature only in American whites and blacks (Holland 1995] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 96:315-320). The regression equations that he generated were found to be useful for stature estimation in these population groups. Since the calcaneus has not been used for the same purpose in South Africa, the aim of this study was to derive regression equations that will allow this bone to be used for stature estimation in South African blacks. In total, 116 complete skeletons (60 males and 56 females) were selected from the Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human Skeletons, School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa). The skeletal heights of these sets of skeletons were calculated using the anatomical method of Fully (1956] Ann. Med. Leg. 35:266-273). Nine parameters of the calcaneus were measured and matched against skeletal heights, using univariate and multivariate regression methods. Regression equations were obtained for estimation of the stature of the South African black population from the calcaneus. The standard error of estimate that was obtained with univariate regression analysis was higher than the corresponding values using multivariate regression analysis. In both cases, the standard errors of estimate compared well with the values obtained for fragmentary long bones by previous authors.