Assessing the accuracy of the program Stature for stature estimation in White South Africans

Abstract

In 2016, Polcerová and Králik created an open-access software program, Stature, designed to automate the estimation of living stature in forensic and archaeological cases. This program includes 22 equations from 13 publications, based on both anatomical and mathematical methods to automate stature estimations. This program does not currently include any population data relating to South Africa, and therefore, this study aimed to assess the accuracy of the program Stature to estimate living stature from the skeletal remains of White South African adults. The living stature of 40 male and 20 female White South African adults from the Raymond A. Dart Collection of Modern Human Skeletons was automatically estimated by the program (ELSP). These estimates were then compared to stature estimates generated by the multivariate equation using the physiological length of the femur and tibial length formulated specifically for the estimation of stature of White South Africans (ELSD). The vast majority of the ELSP significantly under- or overestimated the living stature of this sample, however various ELSP did estimate stature with a sufficient degree of accuracy. It was found that the estimates which were significantly different were associated with the largest inaccuracies, biases, and SEE values and are not applicable to this population group. The equations, using standardised measurements, which were not significantly different could accurately estimate the living stature of White South Africans, however, it is recommended that the data of White South African populations be incorporated into the program Stature for increased accuracy and diversity.