Difference of heights by sex in Early Neolithic

2023/12/12 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Eboluzioa
• Arkeologia
• Anatomia/Fisiologia

Archaeologists have concluded that the difference in height between men and women in northern Europe in the Early Neolithic (8,000-6,000 years ago) could be due to socio-cultural factors.

The study has been published in the journal Nature Human Behavior. According to him, height is a health indicator, and the environment and food can limit the height a person or group can reach genetically if they are not adequate. Thanks to the studies conducted so far, archaeologists knew that the Neolithic men had not reached the height they could reach genetically, but they were not clear why there were differences in some places between the sexes and in others.

To illustrate this, 1,535 individuals from 8,000-6,000 years ago from different places in Europe (North-Centre, South-Centre, Balkans and the Mediterranean) have been analyzed by different methods: Old DNA, stable isotope study (to know the diet), paleopathology (health status), skeletal measurements, morphology…

It is explained that in northeastern Europe there was strong environmental stress, but only women moved in height. I mean, women didn't develop the height they could have genetically, but men did. In the Mediterranean, however, there is no such difference between the sexes. It follows that the groups in the north protected men from environmental stress, while in the Mediterranean they have found no trace of such behaviour.

The results have shown that culture has long influenced the biological differences of our species, even more so than the environment or food.