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Stature and robusticity during the agricultural transition: Evidence from the bioarchaeological record

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  • Mummert, Amanda
  • Esche, Emily
  • Robinson, Joshua
  • Armelagos, George J.

Abstract

The population explosion that followed the Neolithic revolution was initially explained by improved health experiences for agriculturalists. However, empirical studies of societies shifting subsistence from foraging to primary food production have found evidence for deteriorating health from an increase in infectious and dental disease and a rise in nutritional deficiencies. In Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture (Cohen and Armelagos, 1984), this trend towards declining health was observed for 19 of 21 societies undergoing the agricultural transformation. The counterintuitive increase in nutritional diseases resulted from seasonal hunger, reliance on single crops deficient in essential nutrients, crop blights, social inequalities, and trade. In this study, we examined the evidence of stature reduction in studies since 1984 to evaluate if the trend towards decreased health after agricultural transitions remains. The trend towards a decrease in adult height and a general reduction of overall health during times of subsistence change remains valid, with the majority of studies finding stature to decline as the reliance on agriculture increased. The impact of agriculture, accompanied by increasing population density and a rise in infectious disease, was observed to decrease stature in populations from across the entire globe and regardless of the temporal period during which agriculture was adopted, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South America, and North America.

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  • Mummert, Amanda & Esche, Emily & Robinson, Joshua & Armelagos, George J., 2011. "Stature and robusticity during the agricultural transition: Evidence from the bioarchaeological record," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 284-301, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:9:y:2011:i:3:p:284-301
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    Cited by:

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    2. Komlos, John, 2012. "A Three-Decade “Kuhnian” History of the Antebellum Puzzle: Explaining the shrinking of the US population at the onset of modern economic growth," Discussion Papers in Economics 12758, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    3. Gowdy, John & Krall, Lisi, 2013. "The ultrasocial origin of the Anthropocene," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 137-147.
    4. Marcus Groß, 2016. "Modeling body height in prehistory using a spatio-temporal Bayesian errors-in variables model," AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis, Springer;German Statistical Society, vol. 100(3), pages 289-311, July.
    5. Komlos, John & A’Hearn, Brian, 2017. "Hidden negative aspects of industrialization at the onset of modern economic growth in the U.S," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 43-52.
    6. Grasgruber, P. & Hrazdíra, E., 2020. "Nutritional and socio-economic predictors of adult height in 152 world populations," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    7. Komlos, John, 2019. "Shrinking in a growing economy is not so puzzling after all," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 40-55.
    8. Grasgruber, P. & Cacek, J. & Kalina, T. & Sebera, M., 2014. "The role of nutrition and genetics as key determinants of the positive height trend," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 81-100.

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