Original Research Article Postfamine Stature and Socioeconomic Status in Ireland KRISTIN YOUNG, 1 * JOHN H. RELETHFORD, 2 AND MICHAEL H. CRAWFORD 1 1 Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 2 Department of Anthropology, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, New York 13820 ABSTRACT Previous research has documented socioeconomic stratification of secular trend in height in historical populations. Using data from 4,900 males and 1,430 females born between 1840 and 1910 collected as part of the Har- vard Anthropological Survey of Ireland (1934–1936), this study examined the secular changes in postfamine Ireland using several socioeconomic variables, including: occupation, migration, education, siblings, birthplace, and occupation of father and mother’s father. Correlations were also calculated between height and various historical economic indices. Significant differences in the height of Irish males were found by occupation, education, and socioeconomic status of father and maternal grandfather. Males employed in agriculture, or whose fathers or grandfathers were so employed, were significantly taller than other males. For the smaller female sample, only occupation and grandfather’s socioe- conomic status had a significant impact on height. An inverse correlation was also found between the British Cost of Living Index (BCL) and male heights. Our results suggest that availability of resources plays an important role in the overall nutritional status reflected in terminal adult height. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 20:726–731, 2008. ' 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Secular trend is a term applied to the phenomenon of human growth and development in which members of suc- cessive generations are quantitatively different in size or tempo of growth from that of their predecessors (Tobias, 1985). In most applications, secular trend is taken to be positive, so that mean size increases in later generations, or developmental milestones, such as menarche, are reached earlier. The presence of a positive secular trend in a population, especially in height, is generally taken as evidence that later generations are healthier and have a better standard of living than preceding generations (Fogel, 1994; Komlos, 1998; Steckel, 2008). This is because height is an eco-sensitive measure of quality of life, reflecting overall health, nutritional status, economic opportunities, and environmental stress (Brinkman et al., 1988; Floud and Harris, 1997; Jordan, 1991; Steckel, 1995). Height reflects not only nutritional inputs but also demands on those inputs by environmental factors, including disease and workload (Fogel et al., 1983; Nicho- las and Steckel, 1991). Consequently, negative secular trends, or lack of trends, are viewed as indicators of declining or static quality of life (Tobias, 1985). Height data have also been used to infer living standards in historical populations (Floud et al., 1990; Komlos, 1985, 2007; Steckel, 1995), with secular changes being linked to environmental factors including overall health, nutrition, and living standards (Susanne, 1985). The anthropometric data used in this analysis come from the Harvard Anthropological Survey of Ireland, con- ducted between 1934 and 1936, and have been examined previously. Hooton (1940) and colleagues (Hooton and Dupertuis 1951; Hooton et al. 1955), analyzed these data in the context of racial classification and variation due to age. Relethford (1983) and Relethford et al. (1980) exam- ined regional population structure and anthropometric variation using migration and isolation by distance mod- els, North analyzed the variation of anthropometric varia- bles using spatial autocorrelation (North et al., 1999), and Relethford and Crawford (1995) used these data to explore the population history and genetic influence of the Vikings on the island. As for secular changes, only the presence of a positive trend was reported (Relethford, 1995; Relethford and Lees, 1981). Relethford corrected the data for statural loss due solely to aging and found that there was a signifi- cant increase in height through successive generations (males: 0.040 6 0.009 cm/year, P < 0.001, females: 0.030 6 0.016 cm/year, P < 0.05) (Relethford, 1995, p 251). How- ever, Relethford did not examine the role of socioeconomic variation in height or secular trend among the Irish. This study utilizes anthropometric data from Ireland to consider (a) differences in mean height and secular trend by gender for a number of socioeconomic variables and (b) correlations between height and various historical eco- nomic indicators, in order to elucidate ‘‘the evolution of social stratification’’ (Bielicki and Szklarska, 1999, p 252). Under consideration are differences in height and trend by gender, occupation of father and maternal grandfather, birthplace, siblings, migration, occupation, and level of education. MATERIALS AND METHODS The data used in this analysis were collected by Hooton, Dupertuis and Dawson as part of the Harvard Anthropo- logical Survey of Ireland conducted between 1934 and 1936, and are currently housed at the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. Anthropometric and demographic data on over 9,000 males (aged 10–94) sampled across the whole of Ireland and 2,000 females (aged 16–96) sampled in the western counties (primarily the province of Con- nacht) were collected as part of the survey, by Dupertuis and Dawson, respectively (Hooton et al., 1955). Among Contract grant sponsor: National Science Foundation; Contract grant number: DBS-9120185. *Correspondence to: Kristin Young, Department of Anthropology, Uni- versity of Kansas, 622 Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045. E-mail: kjmel@ku.edu Received 19 February 2008; Revision received 11 June 2008; Accepted 14 June 2008 DOI 10.1002/ajhb.20807 Published online 20 August 2008 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience. wiley.com). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY 20:726–731 (2008) V V C 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.