Criteria for selection of osteometric dimensions.

Abstract

AbstractMeasurements, especially of the cranium, which allows the location of larger numbers of anatomical points, have tended to become bound by tradition. Where simple description of a skull is required, the standard dimensions and indices are familiar and serviceable. For purposes of population comparison and of analysis of the variation of form, however, little thought has been given in the past to the actual importance of one measurement relative to another. Multivariate techniques, such as factor analysis and multiple discriminant functions, now allow much better possibilities of finding the significant aspects of cranial (or other) variation, and of developing further measurements most suitable for analyzing such variation. A study of the author's demonstrates that the greatest differences among modern populations actually lie in the breadths of the cranial base, and in protrusion of the subnasal region, as well as in the prominence of the interorbital region or of the orbital rim relative to the face as a whole. It is suggested that workers broaden their batteries of measurements in the search for more such information.