The known, the unknown and the unknowable: weaning times from archaeological bones using nitrogen isotope ratios

Reynard, Linda M.; Tuross, Noreen

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.11.018

Cited by 99 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 77 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…15 N values of breast milk as compared to the adult diet (Reynard and Tuross, 2015). Although the complete cessation of breastfeeding is not clear for ST61, it is evident that breast milk was not the major protein source of ST61 after c. 1-1.5 years of age.…”

Section: Breastfeeding Weaning and Diet In Subadulthoodmentioning

confidence: 89%

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

Tsutaya

Miyamoto²,

Uno

et al. 2016

Anthropological Science

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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 Her gravestone and historical documents revealed that ST61 was a grandmother of a chief retainer of the Akashi clan who died in 1732 aged 77 years.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 Stable isotope ratios of the rib bone and the tooth dentin collagen differed, consistent with historical documents describing a residential change at the age of 27.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.

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Section: Breastfeeding Weaning and Diet In Subadulthoodmentioning

confidence: 89%

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

Tsutaya

Miyamoto²,

Uno

et al. 2016

Anthropological Science

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“…The chemical composition of these bodily proteins reveals the bulk dietary average of proteins consumed during tissue formation, over a varying amount of time depending on the tissue sampled. Although bone collagen has been used in many weaning studies, recent critiques have dissuaded researchers from pursuing weaning studies when only bone collagen is available (Reynard & Tuross, ). However, we argue that most concerns about this method can be addressed with statistical modelling and other supporting lines of evidence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breastfeeding and weaning practices of the ancestral Ohlone Indians of California: A case study using stable isotope analysis of bone collagen

Gardner

Bartelink

Martinez

et al. 2018

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Variation in human breastfeeding and weaning practices is subject to changing social pressures and norms, as well as individual agency. This paper presents a case study from the Yukisma Mound (CA‐SCL‐38), a prehistoric site in the San Francisco Bay Area, which was used as a ceremonial and cemetery space by the ancestral Ohlone Indians between 780 and 230 cal years bp. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values from bone collagen of 201 individuals, including 26 subadults, are analysed. The Weaning Age Reconstruction with Nitrogen isotope analysis package in R is used to model expected δ15N values of infant bone collagen, against which measured δ15N values reveal individual variation in weaning practices. Infants from this burial sample were exclusively breastfed until approximately 0.8 years (maximum density estimation (MDE), marginal probability = 0.0456), and completely weaned by around 4.4 years (MDE, marginal probability = .0409). Range of variation in adult diets is used as a baseline of comparison, in addition to mean δ15N values of adult females, to better consider supplementary food options, and to avoid the assumption of a homogeneous maternal diet. Comparison with weaning data from contemporaneous regional sites, drawn from studies using tooth dentin of individuals who survived childhood, reveals that introduction of complementary foods and cessation of breastfeeding occurred somewhat later at the Yukisma Mound. This contrast suggests prolonged supplementation with breastmilk for children who expressed nutritional stress or disease. Variation in weaning trajectories is further interpreted using δ13C values to identify individuals with elevated δ15N values due to supplementation with high trophic level foods (e.g., freshwater fish and marine foods). Changes in weaning practices are demonstrated by comparison of this sample to ethnohistoric accounts of the Ohlone. This study provides an example of collaborative research with descendent populations and of making the most of available materials.

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“…Despite possible effects of dietary transition on carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of skeletal remains (see review in ref. 14), the most widely accepted biomarker for weaning practices is the nitrogen isotope ratio measured in hair, fingernails, bone, or dentine collagen (22)(23)(24)(25). The Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca elemental ratios in tooth enamel and dentine have also proved relevant for reconstructing early-life dietary transitions (1,26,27).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing human weaning practices with calcium isotopes in tooth enamel

Tacail

Thivichon-Prince

Martin

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Weaning practices differ among great apes and likely diverged during the course of human evolution, but behavioral inference from the fossil record is hampered by a lack of unambiguous biomarkers. Here, we show that early-life dietary transitions are recorded in human deciduous tooth enamel as marked variations in Ca isotope ratios (δ 44/42 Ca). Using a sequential microsampling method along the enamel growth axis, we collected more than 150 enamel microsamples from 51 deciduous teeth of 12 different modern human individuals of known dietary histories, as well as nine enamel samples from permanent third molars. We measured and reconstructed the evolution of 44 Ca/ 42 Ca ratios in enamel from in utero development to first months of postnatal development. We show that the observed variations of δ 44/42 Ca record a transition from placental nutrition to an adult-like diet and that Ca isotopes reflect the duration of the breastfeeding period experienced by each infant. Typically, the δ 44/42 Ca values of individuals briefly or not breastfed show a systematic increase during the first 5-10 mo, whereas individuals with long breastfeeding histories display no measurable variation in δ 44/42 Ca of enamel formed during this time. The use of Ca isotope analysis in tooth enamel allows microsampling and offers an independent approach to tackle challenging questions related to past population dynamics and evolution of weaning practices in hominins.calcium isotopes | tooth enamel | dietary transitions | weaning | breast milk

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The known, the unknown and the unknowable: weaning times from archaeological bones using nitrogen isotope ratios

Cited by 99 publications

References 77 publications

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

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

Breastfeeding and weaning practices of the ancestral Ohlone Indians of California: A case study using stable isotope analysis of bone collagen

Assessing human weaning practices with calcium isotopes in tooth enamel

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