[SMARTY]

I think people were smaller then. To a great extent, nutrition pre-determines stature and if they had deficient diets during say, youth and adolescence… they couldn't make that up later.

I remember going to the Cleve. museum and looking at the armor there. It's a great collection and I am always amazed that the suits of armor are so small.

What is also strange, the two-handed swords and hand-and-a-half swords are very long. How could small people wield such huge weapons?

Halberds were also very long and they looked heavy, too.

[rstrahan]

Not even that long ago. There is a Texas museum in SAN Antonio, and has Mexican Army uniforms. They were at least a foot shorter than I am, and I’m only average height. My grandmother was only 4’8” and was considered to be average in height.