Web+Anthropometry

Click here to link to Lesson Plan for Anthropometry

Background information Alphonse Bertillon, a police department file clerk in Paris, developed a complex method of measuring and categorizing individuals during the second half of the 19th century. Also known as Bertillonage, this system collected numerous body measurements and categorized various facial features of a person, and was used in the United States and in Europe to identify criminals in the penal system from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. In addition to photographs of each individual, a set of complex anthropometric measurements and feature classifications were collected on a card, which was catalogued to serve as a unique identity card for that person. The complexity of the system made it difficult and it gave way to a new identification method—fingerprinting—in early 20th century.