Körpergröße als Kriterium zur Messung des Lebensstandards auf polnischem Gebiet vom Mittelalter bis zum Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts

Abstract

Body height as a measure for the standard of living in the Polish territories from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century

Abstract

The matter under consideration is the body height of the inhabitants of the Polish territories within the past thousand years. The body height is taken as a variable depicting the standard of living, mainly the quantity and quality of the available nutrition. Anthropological studies of skeletons from the cemeteries located in Polish territories (from the 10th to the 17th century) showed that the highest body height was achieved in the late Middle Ages. The early modern age brought an average decrease of about 1 cm. This can be linked with the worsening of the diet, above all the reduction of animal protein in the nutrition. In the 19th century a significant growth trend in the Polish territories loomed from the 1860s which is consistent with the knowledge on changes in food consumption during this period. The trends, which are described above are comparable to the ongoing changes in Europe, i.e. the period after 1945 brought an increase of the average body height of around 7 cm over the course of 36 years.

-----

Bibliographie: Kopczyński, Michał: Körpergröße als Kriterium zur Messung des Lebensstandards auf polnischem Gebiet vom Mittelalter bis zum Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts, JB historie, 1-2013, S. 143-161.
https://doi.org/10.3224/jbh.v7i1.09