Climate effects and stature since 1800
Climate effects and stature since 1800
During the last 30 years, economic and social historians have collected and analysed large amounts of anthropometric data in order to explore key aspects of the human past. Attention has also been devoted to the examination of factors that can exert an influence on stature. This article outlines the different ways in which climate might influence stature, either directly or indirectly. It then uses Geographical Information System (GIS) software to explore the relationship between variations in temperature and precipitation and the average heights of men in France, India, Mexico, Spain and the United States (US) over the last two centuries. It is possible to observe an influence of climate on stature in some countries, especially during the nineteenth century, but the relationship weakens across time and largely disappears in recent decades. The attenuation of this relationship is attributed to a process of “technophysio evolution” as countries modernised and developed economically.
763-794
Galofré-Vilà, Gregori
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Guntupalli, Aravinda Meera
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Harris, Bernard J.
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Hinde, Peter
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2018
Galofré-Vilà, Gregori
915bea40-9332-4cb4-a077-a927fdf4af54
Guntupalli, Aravinda Meera
6ab00497-f86b-4bec-b393-c35a0c1054c9
Harris, Bernard J.
4fb9402b-64f0-474b-b41f-a9ca34d4ff50
Hinde, Peter
0691a8ab-dcdb-4694-93b4-40d5e71f672d
Galofré-Vilà, Gregori, Guntupalli, Aravinda Meera, Harris, Bernard J. and Hinde, Peter
(2018)
Climate effects and stature since 1800.
Social Science History, 42 (4), .
(doi:10.1017/ssh.2018.27).
Abstract
During the last 30 years, economic and social historians have collected and analysed large amounts of anthropometric data in order to explore key aspects of the human past. Attention has also been devoted to the examination of factors that can exert an influence on stature. This article outlines the different ways in which climate might influence stature, either directly or indirectly. It then uses Geographical Information System (GIS) software to explore the relationship between variations in temperature and precipitation and the average heights of men in France, India, Mexico, Spain and the United States (US) over the last two centuries. It is possible to observe an influence of climate on stature in some countries, especially during the nineteenth century, but the relationship weakens across time and largely disappears in recent decades. The attenuation of this relationship is attributed to a process of “technophysio evolution” as countries modernised and developed economically.
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Climate and stature ACCEPTED
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Climate effects and stature since 1800
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Accepted/In Press date: 3 March 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 October 2018
Published date: 2018
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 418383
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/418383
ISSN: 0145-5532
PURE UUID: c35aa0fa-19d7-4d61-a011-f59d4334c371
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Date deposited: 06 Mar 2018 17:30
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 04:09
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Author:
Gregori Galofré-Vilà
Author:
Aravinda Meera Guntupalli
Author:
Bernard J. Harris
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