Modern Physical Anthropology in Estonia

After identifying early anthropological research done in Estonia, this article outlines the achievements of the Anthropology Section (created in 1939) of the Estonian Naturalists Society and summarizes the last 15 years of activities of the Centre for Physical Anthropology at the Institute of Anatomy, the University of Tartu. As a result of extensive anthropometric measuring of women, men and schoolchildren in recent decades, and the statistical analysis of regularities of body build structure, an original 5 SD classification of body height and weight has been created, representing the Estonian constitutional typology.