Reconstructing breastfeeding and weaning practices in the Bronze Age Near East using stable nitrogen isotopes. 2020

Chris Stantis, and Holger Schutkowski, and Arkadiusz Sołtysiak
Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Bournemouth University, Dorset, UK.

Breastfeeding and childhood diet have significant impact on morbidity and mortality within a population, and in the ancient Near East, it is possible to compare bioarchaeological reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices with the scant textual evidence. Nitrogen stable isotopes (δ15 N) are analyzed here for dietary reconstruction in skeletal collections from five Bronze Age (ca. 2,800-1,200 BCE) sites in modern Lebanon and Syria. We employed Bayesian computational modeling on cross-sectional stable isotope data of collagen samples (n = 176) mainly from previous studies to test whether the bioarchaeological evidence aligns with the textual evidence of breastfeeding and weaning practices in the region, as well as compare the estimated weaning times to the global findings using the WARN (weaning age reconstruction with nitrogen isotope analysis) Bayesian model. Though the Near East sites in this study had different ecological settings and economic strategies, we found that weaning was introduced to the five sites at 0.5 ± 0.2 years of age and complete weaning occurred around 2.6 ± 0.3 years of age on using the WARN computational model. These weaning processes are within the time suggested by historical texts, though average estimated weaning age on the Mediterranean coast is later than inland sites. Compared globally, these Near Eastern populations initiated the weaning process earlier but completed weaning within the global average. Early initial weaning may have created short spacing between pregnancies and a high impact on demographic growth within these agricultural populations, with some variation in subsistence practices accounting for the inland/coastal discrepancies.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007861 Lebanon A country located in the Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria. The capital is Beirut. Lebanese Republic
D008297 Male Males
D009587 Nitrogen Isotopes Stable nitrogen atoms that have the same atomic number as the element nitrogen but differ in atomic weight. N-15 is a stable nitrogen isotope. Nitrogen Isotope,Isotope, Nitrogen,Isotopes, Nitrogen
D001942 Breast Feeding The nursing of an infant at the breast. Breast Fed,Breastfed,Milk Sharing,Wet Nursing,Breast Feeding, Exclusive,Breastfeeding,Breastfeeding, Exclusive,Exclusive Breast Feeding,Exclusive Breastfeeding,Sharing, Milk
D002675 Child, Preschool A child between the ages of 2 and 5. Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001106 Archaeology Study of the ancient and recent human or animal past through material remains. It analyzes the physical remains of the past in pursuit of a broad and comprehensive understanding of human culture. Archeology,Bioarchaeology
D013593 Syria Country in the Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey. The capital is Damascus.
D014886 Weaning Permanent deprivation of breast milk and commencement of nourishment with other food. (From Stedman, 25th ed) Weanings

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