Eur J Forensic Sci ● Oct-Dec 2014 ● Vol 1 ● Issue 1 5 European Journal of Forensic Sciences DOI: 10.5455/ejfs.167077 www.ejfs.co.uk INTRODUCTION Craniofacial anthropometry is a technique used in physical anthropometry comprising of precise and systematic measurement of the bones of the human skull. Cephalic index (CI) and prosopic index (PI) are very useful anthropometric tool to find out racial and sexual differences and also give a clue to genetic transmission of inherited characteristics from parents to their offspring [1]. Bodily measurements are the mainstay of anthropological research; however racial and sometimes ethnic variations do exist between these measurements because human body dimensions are affected by ecological, biological, geographical, racial, gender, age related and nutritional factors [2]. Nepalese society is ethnically diverse and complex in phenotype (physical characteristics) and culture ranging between Indian to Tibetan population. Political scientists, Joshi and Rose, broadly classify the Nepalese population into three major ethnic groups in terms of their origin: Indo-Nepalese (IND), Tibeto- Nepalese (TN) and Indigenous (IN). In the case of first two groups, the direction of their migration and Nepal’s landscapes appeared to have led to their vertical distribution. The first group comprising of IND origin, inhabit the more fertile lower hills, river valleys and Terai plains adjoining boundary of India. The second major group consists of communities of TN origin occupying the higher hills from the west to east. A third and much smaller group comprises of a number of tribal communities, who represent both the characteristics of IND and TN [3]. The craniofacial anthropometry has wide application in the field of forensic anthropology in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim’s remains are in the advanced stages of decomposition, for identification of deceased individuals whose remains are burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable. It can also assist in the identification of a descendent through various skeletal analyses that produce a “biological profile” [1]. In view of differences observed in other studies, based on racial and ethnic differences, this study was designed to determine the variation of shapes of head and face present in young adult population of Nepal. This study will provide a data Variation in craniofacial anthropometry in 17-25-year-old adult population of Nepal Sandip Shah, Sarun Koirala, Laxman Khanal Original Research Department of Human Anatomy, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Koshi, Nepal Address for correspondence: Address for correspondence: Dr. Sandip Shah, Department of Human Anatomy, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal. Tel.: 977-25-525555-5421, Fax: 977-25-520251, E-mail: San230dip@yahoo. com Received: Received: August 20, 2014 Accepted: Accepted: September 02, 2014 Published: Published: October 10, 2014 ABSTRACT Background: Cephalic index and prosopic index are very useful anthropometric tool to find out racial and sexual differences and also give a clue to genetic transmission of inherited characteristics from parents to their offspring. Objectives: To determine the variation of shapes of head and face present in young adult population of Nepal. Materials and Methods: A descriptive non-interventional cross-sectional study was conducted on normal undergraduate medical students of Nepalese origin from BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal on September 2012. A total of 313 (male = 186 and female = 127) Nepalese young adult students with their ages ranging from 17-25-year-old were included for the study after taking permission from Institutional Ethical Board and Committee. All the measurements were carried out after careful palpation of the head for anatomical landmarks and measurements were taken to the nearest 1 mm. Results obtained were presented as mean and standard deviation. Independent Student’s t-test and ANOVA test were applied to find out the gender, geographical and ethnic differences. A P < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: The head and face form of males were hyperbrachicephalic and mesoprosopic respectively and of females were mesocephalic and leptoprosopic respectively. The head and face form of Tibeto-Nepalese were hyperbrachicephalic and mesoprosopic; of Indigenous were brachiocephalic and mesoprosopic and of Indo-Nepalese were mesocephalic and leptoprosopic respectively. Conclusion: Thus, the racial factor, gender, geographical and regional variations influences the craniofacial anthropometry especially head and faces form. KEY WORDS: Forensic sciences, forensic anthropology, anthropometry, craniofacial, genetic, index