10,000 years ago: European males – 162.5cm (5 ft 4 inches). A dramatic reduction in the size of humans occurred at this time. Many scientists think that this reduction was influenced by global climatic change and the adoption of agriculture.
In the prehistoric populations, the maximum height for men was 165 to 170 cm, while women topped out at 160 cm. Today, by comparison, men in England have an average height of around 175 cm, while for women it is about 162 cm.
Humans looked essentially the same as they do today 10,000 years ago, with minor differences in height and build due to differences in diet and lifestyle.
Adults grew to about 1.4-1.8 metres tall and weighed 41-65 kilograms. H. erectus brain size was smaller than that of humans today - in some cases nearly half the size - and their skulls were thicker. From left to right: skulls of Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis.
Hominins from four million years ago weighed a rough average of 25kg and stood at 125-130cm. As physicality morphs over deep time, increasingly converging on larger body sizes, the scientists observe three key “pulses” of significant change.
Late Upper Palaeolithic males (8000-6600 BC) were of medium stature and robusticity (mean height 166 cm, estimated average body weight 62 kg).
Early Humans
Homo Heidelbergensis lived in Europe and Africa between 700,000 and 200,000 years ago; males stood at an average of 5 feet 9 inches, while females were shorter, with an average height of 5 feet 2 inches.
The "little giant," a 1.93-meter tall human skeleton, was recently identified by experts at China's Archaeology Academy as the tallest prehistoric man ever found.
During the Bronze Age, height varied significantly by region. The people of the Indus Valley Civilization were among the tallest in the world, with an average height of 175.8 cm (5 ft 9 in) for males and 166.1 cm (5 ft 51⁄2 in) for females.
New genetic findings suggest that early humans living about one million years ago were extremely close to extinction. The genetic evidence suggests that the effective population—an indicator of genetic diversity—of early human species back then, including Homo erectus, H. ergaster and archaic H.
The model, called Mindy, provides a terrifying glimpse at what people could look like in 800 years if our love of technology continues. According to the company, humans in the year 3000 could have a hunched back, wide neck, clawed hand from texting and a second set of eyelids.
Broadly speaking, evolution simply means the gradual change in the genetics of a population over time. From that standpoint, human beings are constantly evolving and will continue to do so long as we continue to successfully reproduce.
According to Steckel's analysis, heights decreased from an average of 68.27 inches (173.4 centimeters) in the early Middle Ages to an average low of roughly 65.75 inches (167 cm) during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Average height of Homo sapiens over the last 40,000 years
This information is based on the average heights of European males because better statistics exist for this population, but the general trend is worldwide. 40,000 years ago: European males – 183 cm (6 feet).
From 1400 to the early 1650, mean height reached 173-174 cm. The early years of the 1600s were 'unusually healthy', and the paper notes that the introduction of poor laws may have contributed to better health for poorer sections of society.
Our ancient ancestors went through a tall and skinny phase around 1.5 million years ago, according to new research. The early humans hunted in African savannahs, which caused them to become tall and slender after leaving forest-like habitats.
Several studies corroborate the fact that our ancestors were far stronger than us, and that human strength and fitness has decreased so dramatically in recent years that even the fittest among us wouldn't be able to keep up with the laziest of our ancestors.
First, the observed increase in height has not been continuous since the dawn of man; it began sometime around the middle of the nineteenth century. In fact, examinations of skeletons show no significant differences in height from the stone age through the early 1800s.
Our ancestors in the palaeolithic period, which covers 2.5 million years ago to 12,000 years ago, are thought to have had a diet based on vegetables, fruit, nuts, roots and meat. Cereals, potatoes, bread and milk did not feature at all.
PALEOLITHIC STAGE ENCOUNTERS
The first encounters began about 8000 generations ago in the Paleolithic era when approximately 75% of deaths were caused by infection, including diarrheal diseases that resulted in dehydration and starvation. Life expectancy was approximately 33 years of age.
Hominins from four million years ago weighed an average of 25kg and stood between 125cm and 130cm tall. The appearance of our own species family, Homo, around 2.2-1.9 million years ago saw a surge in both height (20cm) and weight (15-20kg).
Worldwide there are roughly two new mutations for every one of the 3.5 billion base pairs in the human genome every year, says Hodgson. Which is pretty amazing - and makes it unlikely we will look the same in a million years.
The only realistic scenario for the evolution of two species out of ours would probably be if we expanded beyond our home planet and then lost contact with the settlers. If both populations survived long enough – much more than 100,000 years – we might see divergence and maybe two species of humans.