Abstract: Physical characteristics, and somatoscopic and anthropometric variables were investigated in 326 (118 males and 108 females) Dong adults of the Tongdao Dong Autonomous County in Hunan Province. Compared with data from 30 years before, our results showed that body height did not change significantly, but that the physical characteristics of the head and face showed a long-narrow-high trending. Also shown was that the physical characteristics of women was more significantly different than men over this 30 years period. Overall, a cluster analysis of Dong traits compared with other 19 minority populations in South China showed that the physical characteristics of the Dong were similar with those of Dong peoples in Guangxi and Hubei, with the Yi and Yao in Guangxi, and with the Sandu Bouyei in Guizhou.

Key words: Somatoscopy; Anthropometry; Cluster analysis; Dong