Abstract
An analysis of measurements (anterior and posterior heights and middle body breadth) of 6,357 vertebrae and 336 sacral bones (length, superior breadth and promontory angle) of 539 adult persons from the 1st and the 2nd millennium burial grounds was performed. It was established that longitudinal and transversal measurements are rather weakly correlated. The factor of sex plays a major role in variability of vertebral measurements (up t0 40% from the total sum of factors). Certain sexual differences in a vertebral body form were also noted. The age has slight though significant influence (up to 8%) on vertebral body breadths, that was probably connected with age-related degenerative changes. The influence of the secular factor on vertebral variability was minimal. Only slight to moderate correlations with total body measurements were found. The conclusion was made that vertebral column measurements are of little value in interpopulational comparisons, at least for Europid samples, butthey could be of considerable interest for forensic anthropology.
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Jankauskas, R. Variability of vertebral column measurements in Lithuanian paleopopulation. Int. J. Anthropol. 9, 137–151 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447602
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447602