Saving Anthropometric History: A Solution to the “Estonian Antebellum Paradox”

Abstract

First of all, I claim that Jörg Baten and Mathias Blum (2015a) have provided inaccurate data on Estonian male height. I discuss in more detail the most broadly used international data sources on human height in the next chapter. At this point, I only state that the decadal average of 173.4 cm for adult Estonian men born between 1890 and 1899 is not supported by other sources. The most reliable reports are surveys of provinces, presented annually by Russian governors to the central government, as they are based on the largest number of observations (N). According to this source, the mean height of draftees (N = 1654) to the Russian army in 1913 from the Estland Province was 172.0 cm (Obzor Èstljandskoj gubernii na 1913 god: 44). I use this 172.0 cm value in my quantitative analysis, although this correction only makes Estonians appear as the second tallest males (following Swedes with 172.4 cm and sharing second place with New Zealanders).