A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 1988 (Debrecen, 1990)

Természettudomány - Szathmáry László: A Complex Way of the Reconstruction of Stature

tion of stature the tendency expressed by the Dx formed the basis of calculation. In this way the mean of the values xti determined by the method of PEARSON and that of DUPERTUIS and HADDEN was calculated. The same was done with the values x

u determined by the method of BREITINGER and that of TROTTER and GLESER. (These are as a matter of fact the mean values of the statures belonging to the extreme and middle values of Dx and these mean values should be near one another.) Therefore two such values (167.7 cm and 168.1 cm) could be gained in this way which should fall into the actual range of the living person's stature. The difference of the two values above is 0.4 cm, which is much less than the daily fluctuation of a person who is 167.9 cm tall (this is the mean of the two values above). It is only by the surest chance that a similar result of 168.6 cm was gained by TELKKÄ's method excluded previously because of the constitutional deviations being greater than the average. In this case the mistakes caused by the constitutional deviations compensated one another in such a fortunate way that the determined stature was deformed to the actual value. In the cases of small presentation of the reconstruction it is exactly the latent contradictions like this, that result in a wrong estimation. The advantage of the complex method presented above is the possibility of the application of several methods with the aid of which the most actual basic data can be used instead of choosing one single method of all. Remarks Two remarks can be added to the use of this method. 1. After the calculation of the values Dx the final steps must be made according to the given tendency. Therefore no mechanistic receipt can be given to this. 2. In case of incomplete skeleton-finds the certainty of the determination of stature decreases together with the certainty of constitutional ratios. So it is advisable to express the degree of representation numerically (SZATHMÁRY 1976). If only a single long bone is at disposal the results gained by the different methods must be weighted setting out from the constitutional ratios of the populations. 84