Mandibular Measurements and Discrete Nonmetric Traits Compared in Distance Studies of Six Non-tribal Indian Skeletal Samples

Abstract

Seven metric and six nonmetric traits have been used to describe and discriminate mandibular characteristics of six non-tribal populations of India. Analyses of the six samples indicate that while metric traits possess a slightly better discriminating power than nonmetric traits in differentiating populations in the present investigation, both kinds of traits reveal a similar pattern of interpopulation differences. It is felt that both metric and nonmetric traits should be utilized, whenever possible, to derive maximum information in population studies.