Estimation Of Stature From Facial Anthropometric Measurements In Managundi Population, Dharwad

Abstract

Forensic anthropology deals with the identification of unrecognizable human remains usually in skeletal form by determination of age, sex, race and stature. Personal identification means a determination of individuality of a person. It may be complete (absolute) or incomplete (partial). Complete identification means the absolute fixation of the individuality of a person. Partial identification implies ascertainment of only some facts about the identity of the person while others remain unknown. Age, gender, stature and race are often referred to as the four pillars of the identity of an individual with stature and gender being the two most important. ‘Stature’ is one of the most important and primary elements in the formulation of the biological profile in the process of personal identification of an individual. The present study was conducted among  205 subjects (108 males and 97 females) that include a population of Managundi village. The study aims to establish database on facial anthropometry and to find out any correlation between stature and facial measurements. The highest correlation coefficient was exhibited by morphological facial height in males (p = 0.01) and females (p = 0.05). Morphological facial height also had least standard error of estimate i.e 5.81 for males and 5.36 for females. So the facial measurement (Morphological facial height) is the most reliable measurement for estimation of stature in males and females. All the measurements were found to be more in males as compared to females. There is significant positive correlation between stature and facial measurements (Morphological Facial Height and Physiognomic Facial Height ) in both sexes. Estimation of stature from facial measurements is a supplementary approach when useful samples like extremities and other body parts are not available for examination. This study, therefore, provides anthropometric data and regression equations for the population of managundi village of Dharwad district. These equations are both population and sex-specific, hence, the present study has been undertaken to investigate the usefulness of facial measurements in estimation of stature and to compare the reliability of stature estimation by regression analysis.