Anthropometry

Anthropometry is the measurement of the human body. It is distinct from osteometry, which is the measurement of skeletal material. Anthropometry is sometimes subdivided into craniofacial anthropometry (measurement of the head and face) and somatometry (measurement of the body). Two-dimensional measurement of the head from x-ray cephalograms is known in the United States as cephalometry. In Europe, on the other hand, cephalometry refers to measurement of the head and face, while measurement of x-ray tracings is known as roentgen-cephalometry.

Canons, or simple rules of proportionality based on multiples of specific body parts, were used by classical Greek, Roman, and Renaissance artists to describe the shape of the human body and were based on aesthetic ideals rather than measurement. Anthropometry, which uses actual body measurements, did not develop until 1654, when a German anatomist at the University of Padua, Johann Sigismund Elsholtz, developed a standardized measuring tool for his doctoral dissertation on the symmetry of the human body. He created a vertical rod divided into six equal parts, which he called pedis (feet). He then subdivided each foot into twelve equal parts, which he called uncias (inches). This “anthropometron” is virtually identical to the modern anthropometer, used in most doctors' offices for measuring height.

After graduation, Elsholtz abandoned anthropometry for research in botany, herbal medicine, distillation, and intravenous infusion. However, his technique was adopted widely in the 18th century in early studies of human growth and development. In the early 19th century, the applications of anthropometry expanded to include measurements used to classify human populations on the basis of quantitative morphology. This research grew out of an interest in Linnaean systematics and taxonomy, with its emphasis on typology and “ideal” types to define contemporary populations.

More sophisticated measuring instruments, including spreading and sliding calipers, were devised to measure the human body, especially the skull, in greater detail than was possible with Elsholtz's anthropometron. Numerous landmarks on the head and body were identified for measuring an ever increasing number of linear and contour dimensions. These early techniques were highly idiosyncratic, with researchers using their own measurement system. Ambiguity in the names and descriptions of the landmarks and confusion as to the actual measurements being taken made interobserver error a serious problem when comparing anthropometric measurements taken by different researchers. For example, one of the most basic measurements, maximum cranial length, is also known as head length, maximum glabello-occipital length, maximum head length, diamètre antero-posterior maximum ou glabellaire, or grösste Kopflange. This measurement usually is taken between the landmarks of the glabella, which is defined as the most prominent point in the median sagittal plane between the supraorbital ridges, and the opisthocranion, the most prominent posterior point in the median plane of the occiput, or back of the skull. Both landmarks have numerous synonyms. Glabella also is known as the nasal eminence or bosse moyen, while point occipital maximum and extremum occiput are synonyms for opisthocranion.

Much of the early anthropometric research focused on the Cephalic Index, the ratio of cranial width to length, developed by Swedish anatomist Anders Retzius to classify living populations according to head shape. Variations in measurement technique, plus disparities in classification systems, resulted in a bewildering variety of categories in this index. These differences produced so much confusion about this simple ratio that French anthropologist Paul Topinard devoted an entire chapter of his textbook on anthropology to the Cephalic Index.

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