Taller Chinese may have lived in China 5,000 years ago, if archaeological findings in east China are any indication. Graves in Shandong province yielded bones that suggest the humans may have been at least five feet 10 inches to six feet two inches tall and strong.
Since 2016, archaeologists have been excavating the ruins of 104 houses, 205 graves and 20 sacrificial pits at Jiaojia village in Zhangqiu district, Jinan City, capital of Shandong.
The relics are from the Longshan Culture, a late Neolithic civilization in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, named after Mount Longshan in Zhangqiu.
“Already agricultural at that time, people had diverse and rich food resources and thus their physique changed,” said Fang Hui, head of Shandong University’s School of History and Culture.
Millet was the major crop and people raised pigs. Pig bones and teeth were found in some graves.
Taller men were found in larger tombs, possibly because such people had a high status and were able to acquire better food.
Shandong locals believe height to be one of their defining characteristics. Philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC), a native of the region, is said to be about 6 feet two inches tall.
Homes with separate bedrooms and kitchens indicate that people lived comfortable lives. Colorful pottery and jade articles have also been found, as have ruins of ditches and clay embankments.
As well, there wad obvious damage to the head and leg bones of some of the bodies and to pottery and jade articles in six large tombs. The damage may have been due to power struggles among high-ranking people.
To date, only 2,000 square meters have been excavated in a site that measures one square kilometer.
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Six-footers lived in comfort 5,000 years ago in China
