Stature reduction as an adaptive response to food production in mesoamerica

Mesoamerican body size, reflected by stature estimations of skeletal series, is examined for evidence of body size reduction as an adaptive response to intensive food production. Smaller mean stature is seen in the data for central and southern Mesoamerica than in that of northern Mexico where the reliance on food production was less intense in prehistoric times. Malnutrition, undernutrition and concomitant disease levels, a result of the adoption of a settled and Neolithic way of life in Mesoamerica, are seen as primary causes of this differential stature.