06-15-2006, 12:47 PM
You cannot assume that because average height was smaller in Napoleanoc period that the same would apply to Roman period.
In Roman period, as now, people were well fed, health care was good, life expectancy was long - eg grave of G Cassius Secundus in Chester who was 80 yrs and another member of II Augusta who reached 100.
Many people as now would achieve full height before the age of 20.
In the pre & early industrial period there was a lot of poverty, health care was low as was life expectancy. In the rural areas this was worse. The healthy moved to the towns for the newly developing industrial areas, leaving the weaker & poorer specimens in the villages, & the Enclosure Acts allowed the landowners to dispossess even more. People were not achieving full height until 27 yrs and that was often stunted through poor nutrition. This is well documented in the many years (over 30 yrs) of excavations by John Hurst & Maurice Beresford, at Wharram Percy in Yorkshire, England.
Hilary Travis (ex Wharram Digger of many years ago)
In Roman period, as now, people were well fed, health care was good, life expectancy was long - eg grave of G Cassius Secundus in Chester who was 80 yrs and another member of II Augusta who reached 100.
Many people as now would achieve full height before the age of 20.
In the pre & early industrial period there was a lot of poverty, health care was low as was life expectancy. In the rural areas this was worse. The healthy moved to the towns for the newly developing industrial areas, leaving the weaker & poorer specimens in the villages, & the Enclosure Acts allowed the landowners to dispossess even more. People were not achieving full height until 27 yrs and that was often stunted through poor nutrition. This is well documented in the many years (over 30 yrs) of excavations by John Hurst & Maurice Beresford, at Wharram Percy in Yorkshire, England.
Hilary Travis (ex Wharram Digger of many years ago)
