Abstract
A variety of terrains, from flat to mountainous, as well as both rural and urban settlements, are represented in the sample. This chapter examines the potential impact of a number of environmental factors on modern human skeletal form. The two most dramatic changes in body size over the last 30,000years in Europe as a whole were a marked decrease from the Early through the Late Upper Paleolithic, continuing at a slower pace through the succeeding Mesolithic, and a marked increase over the past 150 years. Genetic effects have also been implicated in geographic clines in body size (stature) within both ancient and modern European populations. Cross-sectional shape - that is, relative anteroposterior (A-P) to mediolateral (M-L) bending strength - also shows systematic temporal changes in the lower limb bones, with the largest change again occurring during the early Holocene.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Skeletal Variation and Adaptation in Europeans |
| Subtitle of host publication | Upper Paleolithic to the Twentieth Century |
| Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
| Pages | 419-426 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781118628430 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781118627969 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 19 2017 |
Keywords
- Body size
- Cross-sectional shape
- Environmental factors
- European populations
- Human skeletal form
- Systematic temporal changes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)