The size differences between men and women used to be much greater than they are today. According to skeletal analyses, there are no hereditary, disease or diet-related causes for this. Scientists are more likely to blame this on cultural inequality.
The first farmers had a hard life and were smaller and sicker than the hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic. This stress was probably more strongly absorbed by favoritism in the male sex than in the female sex, which was reflected in body size.
American geneticist Samantha Cox (University of Pennsylvania) and colleagues inspected the remains of 1,535 Neolithic farmers who lived in Europe between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago. The researchers read out the genetic material of these people.
They gained insight into their diet by analyzing chemical elements built into the bones. Evidence of disease was found on the teeth and bones. They also measured the thigh bones. You can determine your body size based on their height.
According to the analysis, the size differences between men and women during this period were much greater than today. In modern societies around the world, the height ratio of the two sexes is between 1.06 and 1.08. This means that statistically a woman who is 1.70 meters tall is compared to a man who is between 1.80 and 1.84 meters tall.
Difference in size pronounced “extraordinary”.
In the Neolithic period the difference in size in Europe north of Austria was “extremely” pronounced. According to the researchers, the ratio was 1.14. In South-Central Europe – which also includes Austria – it was 1.09 and in the Balkans it was 1.11. Only a few societies in the modern world, such as the United Arab Emirates and India, today have values as high as 1.10 and are known for their ‘cultural preference for male children’.
Only in the Mediterranean region was there apparently no preference for men. This is evident from a sex ratio of 1.05. The men there were also among the smallest in Neolithic Europe.
Source: Krone
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