How has the average human height changed throughout time?

Lower Paleolithic

In the late Australopithecines, males were much larger than females, but very short compared to us (4–5 feet). The most diversity in height is found in Eastern Africa between 1 and 2 mya, which is when very tall people start to show up in the fossil record and sexual dimorphism reduces. At this time, people were regularly exceeding 6 ft tall, and large tibia and femora are found everywhere in East Africa (KNM-WT 15000, KNM-ER 1808, KNM-ER 736, KNM-ER 739, and OH 28). This was a radical departure from their ancestors who were mostly under 5 feet tall. The body build was tall and narrow, so-called “hyper-tropical” proportions that allow for maximum heat loss. Presumably, life in the savanna was favoring taller individuals better capable of locomoting under the blistering sun.

The H. Erectus tribes in China and Java (Zhokoudian, Peking, Solo, etc.) were short in stature, ranging between 4″8 and 5″6 for women and men. In Dimanisi, Georgia, the individuals are even smaller, approaching levels of H.Habilis. So, there was a wide variety of height variations in the Early Pleistocene, and the tall humans in this epoch were restricted to East Africa.

Middle Paleolithic

At least as early as 400 000 ya, there were people regularly reaching 7 ft tall in South Africa. Yes, in the University of Witwatersrand there are femora and tibia that are comparable in size to NBA players. These are classified as H. Rhodesiensis, joining the Bodo…