Revised stature estimations for individuals from Roonka, South Australia

• Published in: Australian archaeology 2016-05, Vol.82 (2), p.139-147
• Main Authors: Durband, Arthur C., Hill, Ethan C., Walshe, Keryn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0312-2417; 2470-0363
• DOI: 10.1080/03122417.2016.1183406

Stature is estimated for skeletal remains that were recovered from the site of Roonka on the River Murray between 1968 and 1977. These 93 individuals span the Holocene, dating between 8000 years BP and European contact. A subset of ten individuals from this sample is complete enough for the calculation of stature using the Revised Fully technique. The data from this subset is used to calculate ratios for the maximum lengths of the humerus, femur, and tibia to overall stature that can be used to estimate stature for less complete individuals. The results indicate that both males and females in the population sampled at Roonka are slightly shorter than previous estimates, with slightly longer humeral and femoral ratios and a slightly shorter tibial ratio to stature than those calculated in earlier work. The use of anatomical methods and element data from within the Roonka assemblage to estimate stature ensures that the techniques employed are both regionally and temporally appropriate for this sample. These results are also consistent with earlier work that indicates that Australians have exceptionally long limbs, which suggests that formulae traditionally used in stature estimation may be inappropriate for use on Australians.