Abstract: An anthropological study of 191 adults ( 85 males, 106 females) of Elunchunzu living in Elunchun Autonomous Banner, Inner Mongolia, was carried out in July 1996. Five observational items and 33 measurements were investigated. The results w ere summarized brielfy as follows.
1. The physical characters of Elunchunzu: The average stature is 165. 5 cm in males and 153. 5 cm in females. They belong to the medium type in both sexes. The head indices belong to brachycephaly , hypsicephaly and metriocephaly respectively. The morphological facial index belongs to mesoprosopy. Mongolian fold is present in the individuals more than 50% in the sample. This is true for both sexes. The nasal bridge is straight, and the nasal index belongs to leptorrhiny.
2. A comparison with the results of the study o f Elunchunzu 's physical characters carried out 60 years ago shows that the stature of the mordern Elunchunzu is higher than that 60 years before by 3. 9 cm in male and 6. 8 cm in female. The other metrical values of bodily part have also increased in various degrees from 60 years before to present. The forms of the head and face basically tend to becoming short, narrow and high.
3. The level of the physical condition in cases living in urban area is better than those in rural area. On the other hand, the development of the subcutaneous fa t is thicker in people living in urban area than those in rural area.
4. In comparison with other minorities living in the northern areas of China, we found that the stature of Elunchunzu is shorter, the trunk is narrower, the nasal breadth is smaller and the inter-canthic diameter is larger.

Key words: Somatoscopy, Anthropometry , Cluster analysis, Elunchunzu