Hernández M, García-Moro C, Lalueza-Fox C
Department of Animal Biology, University of Barcelona, Spain.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1998 Apr;105(4):545-51. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199804)105:4<545::AID-AJPA11>3.0.CO;2-0.
The Aónikenk were a hunter-gatherer group that inhabited the southern extreme of Patagonia at European Contact and became extinct at the end of the 19th century. The myth of Patagonian gigantism developed around these aborigines from early Spanish explorer accounts. In this study, the postcranial remains belonging to the Aónikenk (Patagonia) and the Selk'nam (Tierra del Fuego) preserved at the Instituto de la Patagonia (UMAG, Chile) have been measured, using standard metrics. Different stature estimations for these groups have been generated, by using the different regression formulae available. Aónikenk male stature appears to be between 174 and 178 cm on average, whereas the Selk'nam are considerably shorter. In addition, stature estimations from Spanish populations dating to the contact period have been compiled for comparison. While it can be concluded that the Aónikenk probably presented the highest stature values of all Meso- and South American populations, it is suggested that the perception of their gigantism could be partially attributed to the real difference in stature (probably more than 10 cm) between these aborigines and contemporaneous Europeans.
奥尼肯克人是一个狩猎采集群体，在欧洲人首次接触时居住在巴塔哥尼亚的最南端，并于19世纪末灭绝。巴塔哥尼亚巨人症的传说源于早期西班牙探险家对这些原住民的描述。在本研究中，使用标准测量方法对保存在智利马格达莱纳大学巴塔哥尼亚研究所的奥尼肯克人（巴塔哥尼亚）和塞尔克南人（火地岛）的颅后骨骼遗骸进行了测量。通过使用现有的不同回归公式，得出了这些群体不同的身高估计值。奥尼肯克男性的平均身高似乎在174至178厘米之间，而塞尔克南人则明显更矮。此外，还收集了接触时期西班牙人口的身高估计值用于比较。虽然可以得出结论，奥尼肯克人可能是中美洲和南美洲所有群体中身高值最高的，但有人认为，对他们巨人症的认知可能部分归因于这些原住民与同时期欧洲人在身高上的实际差异（可能超过10厘米）。
