Abstract: Stature is one of the most significant measurements in physical anthropological research, with regression function based on local extant skeletal body parts the most prevalently applied method in stature estimation. Due to the scarcity of stature estimation methods based on crania and the usually poor preservation of human fossils, little work has been done on measurements of foramen magnum region. The present study estimated the statures of Yunxian EV9001, Yunxian EV9002, Dali, Liujiang, Upper Cave 101, Upper Cave 102 and 37 skulls from historical archaeological sites ranging from the Neolithic to the Yuan Dynasty. To test the validity of results, five previous published estimations based on cranial measurements were used. The result of the current study shows that the stature of the six human fossils are 160.76, 161.89, 159.85, 161.54, 163.92 and 164.30 cm, respectively, with the stature estimation of the Liujiang cranium contradicting previous work, which might indicate that femoral fragments and the Liujiang cranium are not associated. The current study also shows differences between the proposions of fossil humans and Holocene humans, with younger specimens showing a closer pattern to extant humans. This stature analyses offers no support to extensive population expansion or gene flow during Pleistocene and Holocene.

Key words: Human fossils; Stature estimation; Liujiang