Very few studies have been made upon the post-cranial skeletons of Australian aborigines. Turner (1886) made a study on skeletons of several ethnic groups collected during the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger in 1873-1876. In his work, the Australian aboriginal skulls, pelvic girdles, femora and many other parts were included. However, the number of the aboriginal skeletons was few: only six adult males, an adult female and a juvenile male were available at that time. Hepburn (1896) also employed the same collection for a study on the platymeric, pilastric and popliteal indices of the femur. Stirling (1896) in a report on the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia quoted Watson's data of the measurements of an aboriginal male skeleton obtained from Alice Springs. Many skeletal parts including the pelvic girdle, femur and tibia were examined. In '20, Wood examined and measured a large number of tibiae of Australian aborigines and more recently Ray ('59) made a detailed study of the aboriginal clavicles numbered up to 292.
Physical characters of Australian aborigines especially of the pelvis and lower limbs have been disclosed by the anthropological surveys done in many parts of Australia. Campbell, Gray and Hackett ('36) found that the lower limbs of the aborigines in Central Australia are long compared with the trunks and upper limbs. In comparison with European standards, the thighs and lower limbs are thin, the trunks are short and the pelves are narrow. Abbie ('51) describes that typical aboriginal males and females have narrow hips and long thin shanks. The trunks in adults are obviously short compared to the lower limbs; he found that relative sitting heights of four different groups: Yalata, Pintubi, Wailbri and Burera are well under 50% (Abbie, '61).
- Subtrochanteric region. TABLE 1
MeaSUTementS and indices of
Australian aboriginal femora
Male
Measurements and indices
No.