Farming made our ancestors shorter, new study suggests

New study of human bones suggests that shift to agriculture may have initially had negative impact on prehistoric ancestors’ health, Andy Gregory reports

Researchers have analysed prehistoric human bones to shine a light on the impacts of the agricultural revolution (Marija Stojkovic/SWNS)

The switch from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to farming may have made our ancestors shorter, according to new research.

Scientists have long been fascinated by the dramatic impacts of the agricultural revolution upon human health and biology, through its complete transformation of the way in which our ancestors lived and interacted with each other.

Now a new study suggests that during the Neolithic era – which marks the move to agriculture – humans were 1.5 inches shorter than their predecessors in the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic eras.