Original paper
Anthropometric history: an overview of a quarter century of research
Komlos, John
Anthropologischer Anzeiger Volume 67 No. 4 (2009), p. 341 - 356
published: Dec 1, 2009
DOI: 10.1127/0003-5548/2009/0027
ArtNo. ESP140006704003, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
The systematic study of human physical stature reaches back into the 18th century. However, until French historians began to explore the socio-economic correlates of human height in the 1960s, the influence of the socio-economic environment primarily interested scholars of sister disciplines such as anthropology, auxology, or even military history. The present review summarizes a number of theoretical issues and new approaches to the understanding of the impact of economic processes on the human organism. Human organisms are sensitive to economic fluctuations and physical stature is an important complementary indicator, illuminating the extent to which a socio-economic or political system provides an environment - broadly conceived - propitious to the physical growth and longevity of human organisms.
Keywords
human physical stature • human height • socio-economic environment • economic fluctuations