Socio-cultural practices may have affected sex differences in stature in Early Neolithic Europe

The rules and structure of human culture impact health as much as genetics or environment. To study these relationships, we combine ancient DNA (n = 230), skeletal metrics (n = 391), palaeopathology (n = 606) and dietary stable isotopes (n = 873) to analyse stature variation in Early Neolithic Europ...

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Published inNature human behaviour Vol. 8; no. 2; p. 243
Main Authors Cox, Samantha L, Nicklisch, Nicole, Francken, Michael, Wahl, Joachim, Meller, Harald, Haak, Wolfgang, Alt, Kurt W, Rosenstock, Eva, Mathieson, Iain
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.02.2024
Subjects
DNA, Mitochondrial
Europe
Female
Genetics, Population
Humans
Isotopes
Male
Sex Characteristics
Europe
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Summary:The rules and structure of human culture impact health as much as genetics or environment. To study these relationships, we combine ancient DNA (n = 230), skeletal metrics (n = 391), palaeopathology (n = 606) and dietary stable isotopes (n = 873) to analyse stature variation in Early Neolithic Europeans from North Central, South Central, Balkan and Mediterranean regions. In North Central Europe, stable isotopes and linear enamel hypoplasias indicate high environmental stress across sexes, but female stature is low, despite polygenic scores identical to males, and suggests that cultural factors preferentially supported male recovery from stress. In Mediterranean populations, sexual dimorphism is reduced, indicating male vulnerability to stress and no strong cultural preference for males. Our analysis indicates that biological effects of sex-specific inequities can be linked to cultural influences at least as early as 7,000 yr ago, and culture, more than environment or genetics, drove height disparities in Early Neolithic Europe.
ISSN:2397-3374
DOI:10.1038/s41562-023-01756-w