https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Revolution#Social_ch...:
”Average height went down from 5'10" (178 cm) for men and 5'6" (168 cm) for women to 5'5" (165 cm) and 5'1" (155 cm), respectively, and it took until the twentieth century for average human height to come back to the pre-Neolithic Revolution levels.”Smaller people, but nowhere near what’s needed to make such a short paddle usable.
And yes, it could be a badly made paddle, but I think that’s very unlikely. Just think about how you use a paddle; you hold it with one hand at the pommel and the other about halfway down the shaft. In this case, halfway down is about a foot between your hands. If you want that to be body-sized, you need a body that’s quite a bit less than a foot wide between the shoulders.
Also, to have this ‘blade’ enter the water, the hand on the pommel can’t be much more than a foot above the water shoulder height. That hand starts each stroke at about shoulder height.
I also guess (but can’t tell from the photos) experts can see the product was finished from its smoothness. If you cut wood, you start by cutting it into a rough shape, and only then care about finer details. You don’t make a smooth looking but oversized object and remove millimeters at a time.