We use the methodology of anthropometric history to investigate the nutritional status of equestrian nomads who lived on the Great Plains during the middle of the nineteenth century, a group for whom traditional measures of economic performance are unavailable. Historians have frequently portrayed Native Americans as merely unfortunate victims of European disease and aggression, with lives in disarray following the arrival of Columbus and other explorers, conquerors, and settlers. While much decimation occurred (Russell Thornton, 1987, 1997), the data we analyze show that some Native Americans were remarkably ingenious, adaptive, and successful in the face of exceptional demographic stress. Using height data originally collected by Franz Boas, we show that the Plains nomads were tallest in the world during the mid-nineteenth century, a result confirmed in travelers’ accounts and by the skeletal record. The analysis provides a useful mirror for understanding determinants of health in general.
https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.91.1.287
Full Paper on SciHub (better formatting) / https://web.archive.org/web/20081216230811id_/http://eh.net/XIIICongress/cd/papers/70PrinceSteckel378.pdf
The data analyzed here were collected in 1892 for use in exhibits at the Columbian Expo- sition. The worksheets originally coded by Boas and his assistants were rediscovered in 1982, and placed in machine-readable form a few years later (Richard L. Jantz, 1995a).
Real indiana jones data mystery!
studies of military heights, given in Table 2, show that Native Americans of the mid-nineteenth century were 3 to 11 centimeters taller than contemporary Europeans, and slightly taller than European-Australians.
Tallest in the world on a diet mostly of buffalo and other game.
Its a good read, the discussion is largely speculative, but interesting along the lines of guns germs and steel
Whatever the actual causes revealed by later research, it is clear these equestrian tribes had something important for health that other groups lacked, and that explanations for their achievement are important for understanding determinants of health in general.