The Biological Standard of Living in Early Nineteenth-century West Africa: New Anthropometric Evidence for Northern Ghana and Burkina Faso

摘要: West Africans are on average shorter than Europeans today. Whether this was already the case at end of Atlantic slave trade is an important question for history nutrition and physical welfare. We present first study changing heights people born mostly in what now northern Ghana Burkina Faso during early nineteenth century. The dataset, not used before anthropometry, documents men between 1800 1849. Mostly purchased from owners, they were recruited into Dutch army to serve East Indies. find that height development stagnant 1830 deteriorated strongly 1840s. In international comparison after taking selectivity issues account, these Ghanaian Burkinabe recruits notably north-western but southern period.