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Stable Isotope Evidence for Breastfeeding and Weaning Variables in Past Populations: Infant and Child Feeding in Ancient Siberian Foragers

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Exploring Human Behavior Through Isotope Analysis

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology ((IDCA))

Abstract

Over thirty years of stable isotope research about the breastfeeding and weaning practices of past human populations has contributed a vast amount to our understanding of infancy and childhood. The length of exclusive breastfeeding, age of weaning initiation and cessation, and types of weaning foods, are important variables affecting infant and child morbidity and mortality, and hence population demography. Stable isotope infant and child feeding (ICF) data have contributed to several debates in archaeology, including the fertility and growth of populations with different subsistence strategies. Most fundamentally, these data reveal the biological adaptations and cultural norms of breastfeeding and weaning over the last eleven thousand years. This chapter focuses on reviewing the current state of knowledge about ICF practices of 26 past forager populations and highlights two ancient groups (7500–4600 years before present) from the Lake Baikal region of Siberia. Most forager studies have found that weaning cessation occurred around three years-of-age, similar to the three to four year-old average age of weaning completion in the Siberian infants. For comparison, stable isotope data on ICF from 71 populations dating to before the post-Medieval period, that were predominately reliant on domesticated crops and/or animals, are presented. Average weaning cessation ages range from one- to five-years. The frequency of populations with an average weaning age under three years vs. three years and older is very similar in forager (<3y = 50%; ≥3y = 42%; n/a = 8%) and agricultural/pastoral populations (<3y = 48%; ≥3y = 41%; n/a = 11%). This suggests subsistence type does not directly cause different weaning lengths. Weaning cessation age also does not decrease over time. A wide array of foods have been used in the weaning process. Newer tooth dentine incremental sampling methods are revealing considerable variation in ICF practices between individuals within a population. These types of sampling methods are better elucidating other weaning variables, such as initiation, velocity, and regularity, offering considerable promise for better understanding infant and child health, survival, and lifeways. It is time to shift our attention from average weaning cessation ages to explore the causes of intra-population heterogeneity and the influence of other ICF variables.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, ON, Canada

    Andrea L. Waters-Rist

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    Andrew D. Somerville

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Waters-Rist, A.L. (2023). Stable Isotope Evidence for Breastfeeding and Weaning Variables in Past Populations: Infant and Child Feeding in Ancient Siberian Foragers. In: Beasley, M.M., Somerville, A.D. (eds) Exploring Human Behavior Through Isotope Analysis. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32268-6_3

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