Stature estimation equations for modern American Indians in the American Southwest

Stature estimation is a core component to the biological profile in forensic anthropology casework. Here we provide mathematical equations for estimating stature for contemporary American Indians (AI), which currently are lacking in forensic anthropology. Drawing on postmortem computed tomography data from the New Mexico Decedent Image Database we regressed cadaveric length on four long bone length measures of the tibia, femur, and humerus to produce 11 combinations of models. Separate regression models were calculated for the entire pooled sample, by sex, broad AI language groups, and age + sex subsamples and compared. Sex-specific models were statistically better than general models, which were more accurate than language group and age + sex models. Equations were created for general and sex-specific models. Application to an independent test sample demonstrates the equations are accurate for stature estimation with overestimates of less than 1 cm. The equations provide similar levels of precision to stature estimation programs like the FORDISC 3.0 module and other stature equations in the literature. We provide recommendations for equation use in casework based on our results. These equations are the first for estimating stature in contemporary AI. This paper demonstrates the appropriateness of these newly created stature equations for use in New Mexico and the surrounding region.