Agricultural specialization and height in ancient and medieval Europe

B-Tier
Journal: Explorations in Economic History
Year: 2008
Volume: 45
Issue: 2
Pages: 127-146

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Land per capita was one important determinant of height in the Malthusian world 0 to 1800 A.D. A second factor was specialization in milk cattle agriculture. It had two positive effects on human stature: first, proximity to protein production resulted in a very low local shadow price of milk, as this important foodstuff could not be transported easily. Second, this low price resulted in a low inequality of nutritional status, whereas, for example, tradable pork contributed to nutritional inequality. For this study, we used a data set of more than two million animal bones to measure specialization in cattle and its impact on stature.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:exehis:v:45:y:2008:i:2:p:127-146
Journal Field
Economic History
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24