Developmental variation in ecogeographic body proportions

While ecogeographic variation in adult human body proportions has been extensively explored, relatively less attention has been paid to the effect of Bergmann's and Allen's rules on human body shape during growth. The relationship between climate and immature body form is particularly important, as immature mortality is high, mechanisms of thermoregulation differ between young and mature humans, and immature body proportions fluctuate due to basic parameters of growth. This study explores changes in immature ecogeographic body proportions via analyses of anthropometric data from children included in Eveleth and Tanner's (1976) Worldwide Variation in Human Growth, as well as limb proportion measurements in eight different skeletal samples. Moderate to strong correlations exist between climatic data and immature stature, weight, BMI, and bi-iliac breadth; these relationships are as strong, if not stronger, in immature individuals as they are in adults. Correlations between climate and trunk height relative to stature are weak or nonexistent. Altitude also has significant effects on immature body form, with children from higher altitudes displaying smaller statures and lower body weights. Brachial and crural indices remain constant over the course of growth and display consistent, moderate correlations with latitude across ontogeny that are just as high as those detected in adults. The results of this study suggest that while some features of immature body form, such as bi-iliac breadth and intralimb indices, are strongly dictated by ecogeographic principles, other characteristics of immature body proportions are influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as nutrition and basic constraints of growth.     

Valkyries: Was gender equality high in the Scandinavian periphery since Viking times? Evidence from enamel hypoplasia and height ratios

Scandinavian countries currently have very high values of female autonomy. Was this already the case in Viking Times? In this study, we trace the roots of gender equality in the Scandinavian periphery over the past two millennia. We evaluate and recommend a new measure of early gender equality: relative enamel hypoplasia values of males and females. This new indicator allows us to trace relative health and nutritional equality, using archaeological evidence. We find that Scandinavian women in the rural periphery already had relatively good health and nutritional values during the Viking era and the medieval period thereafter. The corresponding value is 0.8 equality advantage for Scandinavian women, whereas in the rest of Europe most values fall in a band around 1.2 ratio units. This suggests that the currently high gender equality had a precedence during the Middle Ages.     

柳江人身体大小和形状——体重、身体比例及相对脑量的分析

发现于广西柳江的更新世晚期人类化石除1具完整的头骨外,还包含有右侧髋骨、骶骨、两段股骨及若干件椎骨。根据各方面的特征分析,初步认定这些化石属于同一个体。这一有利条件为我们比较准确地获取与该个体身体大小和形状有关的指标数据提供了可能。本文通过对柳江人头骨及复原骨盆的测量,计算了柳江人的身高、体重、身体比例、相对脑量等。在此基础上分析了柳江人的身体大小和形状。本研究发现:柳江人化石所代表的个体具有适应温暖气候环境的纤细型身体比例,代表相对脑量的EQ指数5.602大于金牛山、山顶洞等中国更新世中、晚期化石人类,而与包括港川人在内的更新世末期及现代人类的EQ指数接近。柳江人体重52.0kg小于金牛山、山顶洞、尼安德特人等生活在高纬度地区的化石人类,而与港川、非洲的KNM-ER3883、KNM-ER3733等生活在温暖环境的古人类接近。作者认为这些发现除说明柳江人生活的气候环境外,还提示柳江人身体大小、比例及相对脑量与更新世末期及现代人类接近。     

Intrapopulation variation in stature and body proportions: social status and sex differences in an Italian medieval population (Trino Vercellese, VC)

The phenotypic expression of adult body size and shape results from synergistic interactions between hereditary factors and environmental conditions experienced during growth. Variation in body size and shape occurs even in genetically relatively homogeneous groups, due to different occurrence, duration, and timing of growth insults. Understanding the causes and patterns of intrapopulation variation can foster meaningful information on early life conditions in living and past populations. This study assesses the pattern of biological variation in body size and shape attributable to sex and social status in a medieval Italian population. The sample includes 52 (20 female, 32 male) adult individuals from the medieval population of Trino Vercellese, Italy. Differences in element size and overall body size (skeletal height and body mass) were assessed through Monte Carlo methods, while univariate non-parametric tests and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were employed to examine segmental and overall body proportions. Discriminant Analysis was employed to determine the predictive value of individual skeletal elements for social status in the population. Our results highlight a distinct pattern in body size and shape variation in relation to status and sex. Male subsamples exhibit significant postcranial variation in body size, while female subsamples express smaller, nonsignificant differences. The analysis of segmental proportions highlighted differences in trunk/lower limb proportions between different status samples, and PCA indicated that in terms of purely morphological variation high status males were distinct from all other groups. The pattern observed likely resulted from a combination of biological factors and cultural practices.     

Rapid morphological change in living humans: implications for modern human origins

Human body size and body proportions are interpreted as markers of ethnicity, 'race,' adaptation to temperature, nutritional history and socioeconomic status. Some studies emphasize only one of these indicators and other studies consider combinations of indicators. To better understand the biocultural nature of human size and proportions a new study of the growth of Maya-American youngsters was undertaken in 1999 and 2000. One purpose of this research is to assess changes in body proportion between Maya growing up in the US and Maya growing up in Guatemala. Height and sitting height of 6-12-year-old boys and girls (n=360) were measured and the sitting height ratio [sitting height/height]x100, a measure of proportion, was calculated. These data are compared with a sample of Maya of the same ages living in Guatemala and measured in 1998 (n=1297). Maya-American children are currently 10.24 cm taller, on average, and have a significantly lower sitting height ratio, (i.e. relatively longer legs, averaging 7.02 cm longer) than the Guatemala Maya. Maya-American children have body proportions more like those of white children in the US than like Maya children in Guatemala. Improvements in the environment for growth, in terms of nutrition and health, seem to explain both the trends in greater stature and relatively longer legs for the Maya-Americans. These findings are applied to the problem of modern human origins as assessed from fossil skeletons. It has been proposed that heat adapted, relatively long-legged Homo sapiens from Africa replaced the cold adapted, relatively short-legged Homo neandertalensis of the Levant and Europe [J Hum Evol 32 (1997a) 423]. Skeletal samples of Maya adults from rural Guatemala have body proportions similar to adult Neandertals and to skeletal samples from Europe with evidence of nutritional and disease stress. Just as nutrition and health status explains the differences in the body proportions of living Maya children, these factors, along with adaptation to climate, may also explain much of the differences between the Neandertal and African hominid samples.     

Secular trends in anthropometrical measurements observed in three to 11-year-old French children between 1953 and 2005

This study covers a fifty-year period between 1953 and 2005 and looks at secular trends in stature, weight and sitting height sizes among French boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 11. A special modelling in function to the age and variable for each child was established so that a comparison could be made in the kinetic growth patterns over these same two periods. Statistical analysis shows a significant increase in growth, of 0.8cm per decade in stature, characterised by a certain increase in the lower limbs and the weight (0.8kg per decade) together with a proportional increase on the body mass index. Positive secular trends of this anthropometric nature are generally thanks to improved eating and sanitary habits and this study enables us to build and elaborate new standards in growth patterns essential for monitoring auxological development in 3 to 11-year-old children in the years 2000 and onwards.     

Ancient-to-modern secular changes in Korean stature

Statural growth in human populations is a sensitive indicator of socio-economic well-being, and improvements in socio-economic status are reflected in secular increases in adult height. In the present study, we investigated the statures of historical Korean societies to show how stature changed over time. Applying Fujii's equation, derived from modern Japanese, to the measurement of femora removed from 15th- to 19th-century Joseon tombs, the average heights of Korean adults during the Joseon dynasty were estimated to be 161.1 ± 5.6 cm and 148.9 ± 4.6 cm for males and females, respectively. Plotting statures for successive historical societies against time revealed that Korean heights remained relatively unchanged through to the end of the 19th century, a pattern that differs from that seen in many Western countries in which stature transiently decreases after the Middle Ages. In contrast, a sharp increase in Korean stature was observed at the beginning of the 20th century, similar to trends seen in other nations (although exact timing varies in different countries). There were no accompanying changes of stature sexual dimorphism. The data reported in this study reflect the unique historical experience of Korea; the relative isolation of Joseon society, the late onset of modernization (at the end of the 19th century), and the later occurrence of industrialization (during the 1960s).     

中国102个人群的身高与地理环境相关性研究

本文对分布在中国16个不同行政区域的102个人群(汉族23个,少数民族79个)的人体发育指标—身高,应用地理信息系统(GIS)的空间分析功能和制图表达方法,对身高受地理环境因素影响的程度进行了综合分析。研究结果显示:随着地理纬度的升高,身高呈现逐渐增高的趋势。随着地区太阳总辐射量的增大,该地区的群体身高水平呈现增高的趋势;随着降雨量和湿度的增大,群体的身高水平呈现降低的趋势;随着地区平均风速指数的增加,身高亦呈现增高趋势。此外,研究还表明区域海拔和气压等因素对身高无明显影响。地理信息系统的技术与方法为分析人体身高发育受地理环境因素的差异性影响提供了新的技术手段和解决方案。     

中国汉族乡村成年人的身高与体质量的地理性分布

目前尚未见大样本的中国乡村汉族人随纬度、经度增长,身高、体质量值的变化规律的报道。为此,2009～2013年测量了16501例汉族人(共36个调查地区)乡村成人的身高、体质量等13项指标值,并计算了3项指数。研究不同纬度、经度地区汉族乡村成人的身高、体质量值变化规律以及这种规律形成的原因。研究发现,汉族人的身高、体质量与纬度、经度均呈正相关。随纬度增加,男性和女性的躯干、下肢的高度值均增大是身高与纬度呈正相关的原因。随纬度增加,男性身高的增加、躯干的增粗共同促进体质量与纬度呈正相关,女性身高、躯干围度、四肢围度、背部皮下脂肪厚度值的增大是体质量与纬度呈正相关的原因。男性随经度增加,身高增大,躯干部的增粗是导致体质量与经度相关的原因。而四肢和躯干的皮下脂肪、四肢的围度并不随经度的增加而线性增大。随经度增加,女性的身高、臀围呈线性增大,这是导致女性体质量与经度相关的主要原因。遗传、环境、经济发展水平的差异是导致身高、体质量与纬度、经度呈正相关的因素。     

ABO blood groups in medieval remains (Ras,Novi Pazar,X-XII A.D.)

Bone samples from a medieval cemetery (Ras, Novi Pazar, Serbia, X-XII A.D.) were serologically examined in order to determine ABO blood groups. The frequency of the AB blood group was much higher in the inhabitants of the medieval Ras than in the inhabitants of the Ras region of the 20th century. On the other hand, the incidence of the O blood group was smaller in the Ras population of the early Middle Ages. It was assumed that migrations which took place in that part of the Balkan Peninsula and Serbia influenced the distribution of ABO blood groups.     

Work performance of Chinese cycle haulers: Controlled field experiments in normal work conditions

Forty-five male Chinese cycle haulers performed a controlled field experiment under mild winter conditions. The objective was to gain insight into factors that affect work performance. Each man hauled the same 481-kg load around a Beijing street course of 14.18 km. The experiment was a measured sample of the same work they do routinely, on the same roads, using similar human powered hauling cycles (modified only enough to carry observers and instruments). The course was completed at a mean speed of 10.4 kph and mean time of 84.2 min. While there was considerable variation in individual pace and in pace change during work, the haulers performed at relatively high output in reference to their capacities. Mean heart rate was 156.8 ± 16.1 bpm, 83.9% of maximum. The men had average body build and were average in size for the general Chinese population (X stature = 169.7 cm) although they showed relatively high aerobic capacity (determined in laboratory tests). Performance levels during experiments appear to match habitual work patterns, and self-pacing emerged as a major behavioral finding of this research. Speed, a primary index of job performance, showed significant correlation to heart rate, VO_2max, variation in windchill, self-reported health and other variables, with a multiple regression coefficient of 0.811. Similar patterns were seen for heart rate relative to speed, except that physical size, education, and other behavioral variables were also predictors. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Average body height of the middle and lower social classes in the middle European Germanic settlement area from the early Middle Ages to modern times

This paper reviews the body height data of middle and low social classes of North and Central European populations from the early Middle Ages until the beginning of the 17th century. It is mainly based on anthropological data from the ancient Germans, but considers also some historical reports. From the data presented here it is seen that the initially rather considerable body heights in these two social groups are decreasing during the Middle Ages. This could be observed on population samples from the Central German Highlands and from Southern Germany as well as on samples from the utmost Western Teutonic settlement: Greenland. The reasons for these variations are most likely to be seen in nutritional changes, in increasing hard physical work due to the transition to predominating agriculture, in biological effects of birthrights, and in deteriorating hygienic conditions.     

Relative lower extremity length in Mexican American and in American black and white youth

Stature, sitting height, estimated leg (subischial) length and the sitting height/stature ratio are compared in Mexican American, American White and American Black boys 9 through 14 years of age and girls 12 through 17 years of age. Mexican American youth are shorter in stature and have absolutely shorter lower extremities. The sitting height of Mexican American youth is similar to that of Black youth and shorter than that of White youth. The sitting height/stature ratio is virtually identical in Mexican American and White youth, indicating similar proportions of lower extremities to stature. In contrast, Black youth have absolutely and relatively longer lower extremities than Mexican American and White youth. These results would thus seem to suggest that reference data for the body mass index (BMI) based on American White youth can be used with Mexican American youth, while race-specific values may be necessary for American Black youth. However, ethnic variation in physique, perhaps frame size, may be a factor which should be more systematically considered in evaluating the utility of the body mass index.     

Gene flow and variation in stature and craniofacial dimensions among indigenous populations of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras

Populations with histories of outbreeding tend to be taller even in the face of seemingly unchanged health and nutritional circumstances, while inbreeding generally results in a negative correlation between body dimensions and level of inbreeding. Populations that have experienced a positive secular trend in stature and maturation typically have histories of higher outbreeding rates in combination with improved nutritional, health, and economic conditions, suggesting a genetic-environment interaction. In general, Middle American Indians have not experienced a secular trend in stature, nor a substantial increase in their standard of living, but they have experienced varying degrees of admixture with Spanish and African populations since the Spanish Conquest. The relationship between estimated gene flow and variation in several anthropometric dimensions is thus considered in indigenous Mesoamerican populations. Available data on height, sitting height, craniofacial dimensions, and admixture rate of Indian populations from southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras were assembled from the literature. The population mean data on 3,371 adults from 23 populations for males and 18 for females were analyzed by regression with anthropometry as the dependent variable, and log10 of admixture as the independent variable. Admixture was less than or equal to 28.9% in this study and is suggestive of a primarily traditional Indian cultural and economic base. The results suggest that populations with higher admixture tend to be taller, and that the increase in stature is due to greater subischial length in both sexes. A decrease in nasion-menton height, and an increase in nasal breadth, nasal height, and the nasal index is suggested for the dimensions of the craniofacial complex.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Short men in poor lands: The agrarian workers from southwestern Spain in anthropometric perspective

With a sample of heights of almost 60,000 men, born between 1855 and 1979 and recruited between 1876 and 2000, our work analyzes the nutritional gap between the agrarian and non-agrarian population in Extremadura, a Spanish region located among the poorest ones in Europe. The analysis reveals that this difference is not only statistically significant, but also tends to increase as the average stature of the active population grows. Among the causes of the agrarian height penalty, our article focuses mainly on the economic differences. However, the research also insists on the roots of these differences, especially those linked to the adverse physical conditions of the territory, the dynamics of the Christian conquest in the Middle Ages and the strong and persistent concentration of land ownership in the region. In short, this paper concludes that the anthropometric gap between agrarian and non-agrarian workers is due not only to economic causes, but also to geographical, historical and institutional reasons.     

哈萨克族中小学生体质发育资料及身体发育指数分析

本文报告了新疆阿勒泰地区7—18岁哈萨克族中小学生体质发育的调查结果。重点分析3456名城镇哈萨克族学生的体质发育资料。体质发育调查指标包括身高、体重、胸围、坐高、肩宽、骨盆宽六项,其增长幅度及变异度皆以体重为大。哈萨克族学生的身高不论男女,在多数年龄组小于国内同龄汉族学生,而体重则多数年龄组大于国内同龄汉族。本文还分析了哈萨克族学生的六项身体发育指数。     

Temporal trends in femoral curvature and length in medieval and modern Scotland

We measured how much the radius of the anterior curvature and the length of the femoral shaft of cadaveric bones have changed from medieval to recent times. Around 20 (x, y) coordinates of a virtual coordinate system were measured at intervals of 1.5 cm along the shaft of the femur to calculate one single radius of a virtual circle in the (x, y) plane. The median radii of curvature were 119, 141, and 158 cm for medieval, early, and late 20th century femora, respectively. Early and late 20th century femora were of similar length (45 cm), but medieval femora were shorter (43.5 cm). Femora have become not only longer but also straighter since the Middle Ages. These findings account in part for the increase in height of modern generations. Size and shape changes may have significant implications for the biomechanical response of the femur to the forces to which it is subjected in everyday life, in trauma, and following surgical intervention.     

Limb proportions in climbing and ground-dwelling geckos (Lepidosauria, Gekkonidae): a phylogenetically informed analysis

Biomechanical considerations predict that limb proportions should differ between animals with climbing and ground-dwelling lifestyles. Ground-dwellers should have relatively long, parasagittal hind limbs, with high tibia:femur ratios, and relatively short fore limbs. Climbers should have relatively short limbs, with low tibia:femur ratios, and equally long hind and fore limbs. We tested these predictions using gecko species with different locomotion habits (climbing versus ground-dwelling). We measured snout-vent length and lengths of limb segments in 29 species of geckos and analysed them using both non-phylogenetic statistics (nested analysis of variance and principal component analysis) and phylogenetic statistics (analysis of covariance). Neither approach allowed us to find any consistent relationship between habitat use and the morphometric variables. We conclude that either relative limb lengths and limb proportions in geckos have not evolved in response to the physical demands of the microhabitat, or our understanding of those demands is insufficient. Accepted: 22 February 2001     

Body proportions in ancient Andeans from high and low altitudes

Living human populations from high altitudes in the Andes exhibit relatively short limbs compared with neighboring groups from lower elevations as adaptations to cold climates characteristic of high-altitude environments. This study compares relative limb lengths and proportions in pre-Contact human skeletons from different altitudes to test whether ecogeographic variation also existed in Andean prehistory. Maximum lengths of the humerus, radius, femur, and tibia, and femoral head breadth are measured in sex-specific groups of adult human skeletons (N = 346) from the central (n = 80) and the south-central (n = 123) Andean coasts, the Atacama Desert at 2,500 m (n = 102), and the southern Peruvian highlands at 2,000-3,800 m (n = 41). To test whether limb lengths vary with altitude, comparisons are made of intralimb proportions, limb lengths against body mass estimates derived from published equations, limb lengths against the geometric mean of all measurements, and principal component analysis. Intralimb proportions do not statistically differ between coastal groups and those from the Atacama Desert, whereas intralimb proportions are significantly shorter in the Peruvian highland sample. Overall body size and limb lengths relative to body size vary along an altitudinal gradient, with larger individuals from coastal environments and smaller individuals with relatively longer limbs for their size from higher elevations. Ecogeographic variation in relation to climate explains the variation in intralimb proportions, and dietary variation may explain the altitudinal cline in body size and limb lengths relative to body size. The potential effects of gene flow on variation in body proportions in Andean prehistory are also explored.