Stable isotopic reconstructions of adult diets and infant feeding practices during urbanization of the city of Edo in 17th century Japan

Anthropological Science

Miyamoto²,

Uno

et al. 2016

Self Cite

The life history of a female individual skeleton (ST61) from the Edo period (AD 1603(AD -1868 was investigated by using multi-tissue and multi-isotope analyses. Her gravestone and historical documents revealed that ST61 was a grandmother of a chief retainer of the Akashi clan who died in 1732 aged 77 years. Radiocarbon and sulfur stable isotope analyses indicated that the contribution of marine foods to the ST61 diet was relatively low (17.2% protein) despite the relatively higher nitrogen isotope ratio of the rib bone collagen. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of the serial section of tooth dentin along the growth lines indicated that breast milk was not the major protein source of ST61 after roughly 1-1.5 years of age, although this weaning pattern was not evident from the oxygen stable isotope ratios of her tooth enamel serial sections. The carbon stable isotopes in tooth dentin collagen and tooth enamel apatite suggested that her diet from 0.5 to 5 years of age possibly contained a small proportion of C 4 plants. Stable isotope ratios of the rib bone and the tooth dentin collagen differed, consistent with historical documents describing a residential change at the age of 27. The calibrated radiocarbon ages of the associated rice hull were at least 80-120 years older than the year of death of ST61. Sulfur stable isotope ratio of the rice hull suggested that fish fertilizers might have been used for paddy rice at that time. Multi-tissue and multi-isotope analyses can provide information of several kinds from different time windows even from an individual skeleton.

Section: Dietary Changementioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Breastfeeding Weaning and Diet In Subadulthoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Breastfeeding Weaning and Diet In Subadulthoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From cradle to grave: multi-isotopic investigations on the life history of a higher-status female from Edo-period Japan

Anthropological Science

Miyamoto²,

Uno

et al. 2016

Self Cite

“…investigated BWPs in a hunter-gatherer population in Epi-Jomon Japan (2300-1700 years BP), and revealed different infant feeding practices in the population. Tsutaya et al (2014) showed relatively longer breastfeeding periods in the city of Edo in 17th century Japan, and inferred that the urbanization of Edo was achieved by immigration and not by natural population increase.…”

Section: Applications Studied Tissuesmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Shorter breastfeeding periods tend to result in shorter birth intervals and higher fertility because suckling stimuli and the energetic burden of lactogenesis can delay the resumption of a mother's ovulation (Vitzhum, 1994;Wood, 1994;Valeggia and Ellison, 2009;WHO, 2009). Breastfeeding periods in ancient human populations have been reconstructed as a proxy of fertility in ancient demographic events (e.g., Schurr and Powell, 2005;WatersRist et al, 2011;Tsutaya et al, 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices using stable isotope and trace element analyses: A review

American J Phys Anthropol

Yoneda

2014

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192

188

Biogeochemical methods using stable isotopes and trace elements have been increasingly developed and applied to reconstruct modern and ancient breastfeeding and weaning practices of mammals, including humans, because they offer direct proxies for the dietary intake of subadults. Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes have been used to evaluate breast milk lipid, protein, and water intake, respectively. Carbon and sulfur isotopes have been used to estimate the content of weaning foods. The elemental concentrations of Sr and Ba in subadult tissues differ because of the dietary change during the weaning process. For analyses, various tissues have been used, such as hair, nail, blood, and feces for modern mammals and bone and teeth for ancient ones. Of these, trace element analysis of tooth enamel offers a good opportunity for the reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices of the more distant past at finer resolution, although further understanding of the metabolism of trace elements is necessary. There are various tissue-and element-specific advantages and disadvantages, and a combination of different proxies can illuminate practices from various viewpoints. Finally, applying the geochemical reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices to human ecology, primatology, and paleoanthropology is important; basic studies of the underlying physiological mechanisms and technical improvements in the analyses will further highlight avenues for future research. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 156:2-21, 2015. V C 2014 American Association of Physical AnthropologistsThe reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices (BWPs) of ancient human and other mammalian species is one of the most important fields in anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary biology, and history. Infant feeding practices affect the overall health of the population because diet, health status, and growth at a young age have profound effects on an individual's later life (Dettwyler and Fishman, 1992;Katzenberg et al., 1996;WHO, 1998WHO, , 2009Lewis, 2007). Breastfeeding and weaning practices can be viewed from the evolutionary perspectives of life history theory, parental investment, child development, social system, and reproductive strat-

Infant feeding practice in medieval Japan: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human skeletons from Yuigahama‐minami

American J Phys Anthropol

Shimomi

Nagaoka

et al. 2014

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A longer breastfeeding duration provides various positive effects in subadult health because of abundant immunological factors and nutrients in human breast milk, and decreases the natural fertility of a population through lactational amenorrhea. In this study, we measured stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in the bone collagen of three adults and 45 subadults from the Yuigahama-minami site (from 12th to 14th century) in Kamakura, the early medieval capital of Japan. Marine foods, C3 -based terrestrial foods, and freshwater fish are the primarily protein sources for adults. The changes in the nitrogen isotope ratios of subadults suggest that the relative dietary protein contribution from breast milk started to decrease from 1.1 years of age and ended at 3.8 years. The age at the end of weaning in the Yuigahama-minami population was greater than that in the typical non-industrial populations, a premodern population in the Edo period Japan, and medieval populations in the UK. Skeletons of townspeople from medieval Kamakura indicate severe nutritional stress (e.g., enamel hypoplasia and cribra orbitalia), yet this longer duration of breastfeeding did not compensate adverse effects for nutritional deficiency. The longer breastfeeding period may have been a consequence of complementary food shortage and bad health of subadults. Kamakura experienced urbanization and population increase in the early medieval period. The younger age-at-death distribution and high nutritional stresses in the Yuigahama-minami population and later weaning, which is closely associated with longer inter-birth interval for mothers, suggests that Kamakura developed and increased its population by immigration during urbanization.