Will your childhood years kill you earlier? A study exploring the relationship between height, stress and age at death.

Summary

Could shorter legs mean premature death? Stature is a highly complex trait which seems to be influenced by many different factors. To name a few; genetics, social status, through to environment, diet or health issues. However, it has been observed for some time that taller people live longer. For the purpose of current research, data from 10 multi-period sites were collected. The main focus of project is to explore the correlations between height and age-at-death. Additional to this, as it is broadly suggested that environmental factors have significant impact on body height, this research seeks to explore whether individuals that experienced stress during childhood or adolescence are more likely to be shorter and die younger? As an indicator of childhood stress, linear enamel hypoplasia was analyzed. The next question considered, are shorter people more likely to show stress markers developed in adult life? Therefore, cribra orbitalia was analyzed. All possible associations were explored, taking into account sex and origin of the individuals. Does childhood stress result in shorter body height, and is stature indeed connected to the age-at-death?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16790