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heightvs

Human height through time

Hominins of the Late Pliocene, 3.6 to 2.58 million years ago, stood about 4 ft 1.5 in (125.7 cm) on average. By the Middle Pleistocene, from 774,000 years ago, the average estimate had reached 5 ft 4.5 in (164.4 cm), and in the Late Pleistocene 5 ft 6 in (167.1 cm). Foragers of the last 10,000 years averaged 5 ft 3 in (159.9 cm).

Each figure is the average stature estimated from skeletons, men and women together, compiled by Will, Pablos and Stock (2017). The dashed lines are today’s average US man, 5 ft 9 in (175.1 cm), and woman, 5 ft 3.5 in (161.2 cm) (CDC, 2021–2023).

By period

  1. 3.6 to 2.58 million years agoLate Pliocene hominins4 ft 1.5 in (125.7 cm)3 estimates
  2. 2.58 million to 774,000 years agoEarly Pleistocene humans4 ft 10.5 in (148 cm)56 estimates
  3. 774,000 to 129,000 years agoMiddle Pleistocene humans5 ft 4.5 in (164.4 cm)52 estimates
  4. 129,000 to 11,700 years agoLate Pleistocene humans5 ft 6 in (167.1 cm)92 estimates
  5. about 10,000 years ago to the recent pastHolocene foragers5 ft 3 in (159.9 cm)449 estimates

Species, groups and individuals, oldest first

  1. 4.5 to 4.3 million years agoArdipithecus ramidus3 ft 11.5 in (121 cm)1 estimate
  2. 3.9 to 2.9 million years agoAustralopithecus afarensis4 ft 2.5 in (128 cm)2 estimates
  3. 3.3 to 2.1 million years agoAustralopithecus africanus4 ft 1 in (124.4 cm)5 estimates
  4. about 3.2 million years agoLucy (AL 288-1)3 ft 5.5 in (105 cm)1 estimate
  5. 2.5 to 1.15 million years agoParanthropus boisei4 ft 3.5 in (131.1 cm)6 estimates
  6. 2.3 to 1.65 million years agoHomo habilis4 ft 10 in (147.3 cm)7 estimates
  7. 2.27 million to 870,000 years agoParanthropus robustus4 ft 1 in (124.3 cm)3 estimates
  8. 2.2 to 1.4 million years agoEarly Homo5 ft 0 in (151.9 cm)22 estimates
  9. 2 million to 100,000 years agoHomo erectus (sensu lato)5 ft 4.5 in (163.4 cm)21 estimates
  10. the Middle Pleistocene, 774,000 to 129,000 years agoMid-Pleistocene Homo5 ft 5.5 in (166.9 cm)32 estimates
  11. 335,000 to 236,000 years agoHomo naledi4 ft 8 in (142.2 cm)2 estimates
  12. the Middle Palaeolithic, about 300,000 to 50,000 years agoMiddle Palaeolithic Homo sapiens5 ft 8.5 in (173.8 cm)13 estimates
  13. 240,000 to 40,000 years agoHomo neanderthalensis5 ft 4 in (162.7 cm)38 estimates
  14. the Late PleistoceneUpper Cave female stature5 ft 4.5 in (164.3 cm)
  15. the Late PleistoceneUpper Cave male stature5 ft 4.5 in (163.9 cm)
  16. the Upper Palaeolithic, about 50,000 to 12,000 years agoUpper Palaeolithic modern humans5 ft 6.5 in (169.4 cm)47 estimates
  17. about 5,300 years ago (around 3300 BCE)Ötzi the Iceman5 ft 3 in (160 cm)1 estimate

When each lived: the fossil range in each species’ Wikipedia article, the geological ages for the periods, and the 2017 study for early Homo and the Holocene foragers. Several groups overlap in time.

Country averages today, regional height studies, where your height falls, or people by height.