A Study on the Anthropometry of the Hira Community of Assam: Its Use in Redesigning a Pottery Wheel

In the study, 15 anthropometric dimensions of the female members of the Hira community are surveyed. Measured anthropometric dimensions are: standing position—weight, stature, vertical reach, eye height and arm reach from the wall and span; sitting posture—sitting height, popliteal height, knee height, elbow rest height, coronoid fossa to hand length, buttock-knee length, hip breadth and functional leg length. Anthropometric indices, namely relative sitting height (RSH), body surface area (BSA) and body mass index (BMI) are calculated. Sample population’s men age and body weight are found to be 38.85 ± 11.99 year and 45.97 ± 10.53 kg, respectively. Mean stature is 151.98 ± 5.83 cm. Correlation coefficient among different anthropometric dimensions is calculated. The results depict a high correlation among different anthropometric dimensions. The highest correlation is found between stature and vertical reach (0.92). Finally, an attempt is made to illustrate the use of such data in designing equipment for pottery industry of Assam.