Hair morphology and anthropological applications

The histological study of hair has a long history, dating from the 19th century. We obtained a collection of hair taken from people of known geographic origin. We analyzed these samples according to their transversal cut shape index, derived from computerized image‐processing. We noted statistically significant variation according to the geographic origin of subjects. This morphological variation may reflect genetic distance. This reliable, quick, and cheap technique could be used in other existing anthropological material for which DNA analysis is usually difficult. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 18:861–864, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.