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Height in eighteenth-century Chilean men: Evidence from military records, 1730–1800s

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  • Llorca-Jaña, Manuel
  • Navarrete-Montalvo, Juan
  • Droller, Federico
  • Araya-Valenzuela, Roberto

Abstract

This article provides the first height estimates for the adult population for any period of Chilean history. Based on military records, it gives an analysis of the average heights of male soldiers in the last eight decades of the colonial period, c.1730–1800s. The average height of Chilean men was around 167 centimetres, making them on average taller than men from Mexico, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Venezuela, but of a similar height to men from Sweden. However, Chilean men were clearly shorter than men in neighbouring Argentina, the USA and the UK. Chilean height remained stable during the 1740–1770s, but it declined by some 2–3 centimetres between the 1780 s and the 1800s, in line with a fall in real wages due to increasing food prices and population growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Llorca-Jaña, Manuel & Navarrete-Montalvo, Juan & Droller, Federico & Araya-Valenzuela, Roberto, 2018. "Height in eighteenth-century Chilean men: Evidence from military records, 1730–1800s," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 168-178.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:29:y:2018:i:c:p:168-178
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2018.03.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Borrescio-Higa, Florencia & Bozzoli, Carlos Guillermo & Droller, Federico, 2019. "Early life environment and adult height: The case of Chile," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 134-143.
    2. Llorca-Jaña, Manuel & Clarke, Damian & Navarrete-Montalvo, Juan & Araya-Valenzuela, Roberto & Allende, Martina, 2020. "New anthropometric evidence on living standards in nineteenth-century Chile," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    3. Boris Branisa & José Peres-Cajías & Nigel Caspa, 2019. "The biological standard of living in urban Bolivia, 1880s-1920s: stagnation and persistent inequality," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 240, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Linares-Luján, Antonio M. & Parejo-Moruno, Francisco M., 2022. "Short men in poor lands: The agrarian workers from southwestern Spain in anthropometric perspective," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    5. Salvatore, Ricardo, 2019. "The biological wellbeing of the working-poor: The height of prisoners in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, 1885–1939," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 92-102.
    6. Baten, Joerg & Llorca-Jaña, Manuel, 2021. "Inequality, low-intensity immigration and human capital formation in the regions of Chile, 1820-1939," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    7. Branisa, Boris & Peres-Cajías, Jose & Caspa, Nigel, 2020. "The biological standard of living in La Paz (Bolivia), 1880s–1920s: Persistent stagnation and inequality," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    8. Adolfo Meisel-Roca & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo & Daniela Santos-Cárdenas, 2018. "Socioeconomic Determinants and Spatial Convergence of Biological Well-being: The Case of Physical Stature in Colombia, 1920-1990," Borradores de Economia 1053, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    9. Manuel Llorca-Jaña & Javier Rivas & Damian Clarke & Diego Barría Traverso, 2020. "Height of Male Prisoners in Santiago de Chile during the Nitrate Era: The Penalty of being Unskilled, Illiterate, Illegitimate and Mapuche," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-24, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Biological standard of living; Physical stature; Height; Chile; Anthropometric history; Eighteenth century;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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