THE SECULAR TREND IN BODY HEIGHT IN THE RURAL POPULATION OF PODBEREZCE (UKRAINE), IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES

Differentiation of populations by mean body height reflects actual living conditions of an individual and a group, and the analysis of these changes in time allows to explore possible modifications of the living conditions and to identify the time and directions of long-term trends in changes within this trait. The aim of the paper is to present the secular trend in body height in the rural population of Podberezce (Ukraine) and a potential effect of differential mortality on the mean value of this trait in the population. The research material comprises the data kept in the archives of the Institute of Anthropology in Poznan, Poland. It includes research sheets for 106 males and 95 females, containing anthropometric data. The data were analyzed in three cohorts born in the years: 1850-1879, 1880-1899 and 1900-1918. The secular trend in body height manifested as the increase of mean body height in males by 4.6 cm and in females by 4.0 cm. No correlation was found between the number of sibling deaths in the families of the subjects, and the mean body height in cohorts. This result corroborates the thesis of, in a sense, independent realization of the two biological potentials: the reproductive potential and the growth potential in the population, which are determined by different sets of modifying factors.