Morphometric dimensions of metacarpal bones in the population structure analysis (island of Krk, Croatia).

The population structure analysis by means of the osteometric dimensions of metacarpal bones in the population groups of the northern Adriatic island of Krk, Croatia was performed. The sample consisted of randomly sampled adult islanders (94 males and 79 females) aged from 18 to 85 years from six villages of the island of Krk. "Biological distances" were estimated by the Mahalanobis D2 analysis for bone length (L), total diaphysis width (T) and medullary canal width (M) dimensions of the second left metacarpal bone. Analysis of the osteometric dimensions of metacarpal bones as a measure of biological distance between population groups of the island of Krk indicated bio-cultural and socio-cultural events, rather than geographical distances, to be the primary determinants of anthropogenetic structure of today's population groups of the island.