Stature in 19th and early 20th century Copenhagen. A comparative study based on skeletal remains

•Skeletal stature is compared to contemporary 19th century. Danish conscript heights.•Stature variations between sex and socially distinct individuals are investigated.•Male stature decreases between first and second half of 19th century.•Male stature differs between cemeteries of varying social status.•No changes in female stature over time and female stature shows no wealth gradient.

Individual stature depends on multifactorial causes and is often used as a proxy for investigating the biological standard of living. While the majority of European studies on 19th and 20th century populations are based on conscript heights, stature derived from skeletal remains are scarce. For the first time in Denmark this study makes a comparison between skeletal stature and contemporary Danish conscript heights and investigates stature of males and females temporally and between socially distinct individuals and populations in 19th and early 20th century Copenhagen.A total of 357 individuals (181 males, 176 females) excavated at the Assistens cemetery in Copenhagen is analyzed. Two stature regression formulae (Trotter, 1970; Boldsen, 1990) are applied using femur measurements and evaluated compared to conscript heights. The results indicate that mean male stature using Boldsen follows a similar trend as the Danish conscript heights and that Trotter overestimate stature by ca. 6 cm over Boldsen. At an inter population level statistically significant differences in male stature are observed between first and second half of the 19th century towards a slight stature decrease and larger variation while there are no significant changes observed in female stature. There are insignificant differences in stature between middle and high class individuals, but male stature differs statistically between cemeteries (p = 0.000) representing middle/high class, paupers and navy employees, respectively. Female stature had no significant wealth gradient (p = 0.516). This study provides new evidence of stature among males and females during the 19th century and suggests that males may have been more sensitive to changes in environmental living and nutrition than females.