Population-specific stature estimation from long bones in the early medieval Pohansko (Czech Republic)

Objectives: We tested the effect of population‐specific linear body proportions on stature estimation. Materials and Methods: We used a skeletal sample of 31 males and 20 females from the Early Medieval site at Pohansko (Břeclav, Central Europe) and a comparative Central European Early Medieval sample of 45 males and 28 females. We developed new population‐specific equations for the Pohansko sample using anatomical reconstructions of stature, then compared percentage prediction errors (%PEs) of anatomical stature from limb bone lengths using the derived Pohansko equations with those previously derived from more general European and other Early Medieval samples. Results: Among general European equations, the lowest %PEs for the Pohansko sample were obtained using the equations of Formicola and Franceschi: Am J Phys Anthropol 100 (1996) 83–88 and Ruff et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 148 (2012) 601–617. However, unexpectedly, the choice between tibial latitudinal variants proposed by Ruff et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 148 (2012) 601–617 appeared to be sex‐specific, with northern and southern variants producing lower %PEs for males and females, respectively. Equations from Breitinger: Anthropol Anz 14 (1937) 249–274, Bach: Anthropol Anz 29 (1965) 12–21, and Sjøvold: Hum Evol 5 (1990) 431–447 provided poor agreement with anatomical stature. When applied to the comparative Central European Early Medieval sample, our new formulae have generally lower %PE than previously derived formulae based on other European Early Medieval samples (Maijanen and Niskanen: Int J Osteoarchaeol 20 (2010) 472–480; Vercellotti et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 140 (2009) 135–142. Conclusions: The best agreement with anatomical stature among our newly developed equations was obtained using femoral+tibial length, followed by femoral length. Upper limb bone lengths resulted in higher %PEs. Variation in the tibia is likely to contribute most to potential bias in stature estimation. Am J Phys Anthropol 158:312–324, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.