Ventresca Miller Alicia, Hanks Bryan K, Judd Margaret, Epimakhov Andrey, Razhev Dmitry
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Human Development in Landscapes, Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, Archaeological Stable Isotope Laboratory, Johanna-Mestorf-Straße 2-6, Kiel, 24118, Germany.
Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15260.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2017 Mar;162(3):409-422. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23126. Epub 2016 Oct 31.
This paper investigates infant feeding practices through stable carbon (δ C) and nitrogen (δ N) isotopic analyses of human bone collagen from Kamennyi Ambar 5, a Middle Bronze Age cemetery located in central Eurasia. The results presented are unique for the time period and region, as few cemeteries have been excavated to reveal a demographic cross-section of the population. Studies of weaning among pastoral societies are infrequent and this research adds to our knowledge of the timing, potential supplementary foods, and cessation of breastfeeding practices.
Samples were collected from 41 subadults (<15 years) and 27 adults (15+ years). Isotopic reference sets from adult humans as well as faunal remains were utilized as these form the primary and complementary foods fed to infants.
Slight shifts in δ C and δ N values revealed that weaning was a multi-stage process (breastfeeding, weaning, and complete cessation of nursing) that began at 6 months of age, occurred over several years of early childhood, and was completed by 4 years of age.
Our results indicate that weaning was a multi-stage process that was unique among late prehistoric pastoralist groups in Eurasia that were dependent on milk products as a supplementary food. Our discussion centers on supporting this hypothesis with modern information on central and east Eurasian herding societies including the age at which complementary foods are introduced, the types of complementary foods, and the timing of the cessation of breastfeeding. Integral to this work is the nature of pastoral economies and their dependence on animal products, the impact of complementary foods on nutrition and health, and how milk processing may have affected nutrition content and digestibility of foods. This research on Eurasian pastoralists provides insights into the complexities of weaning among prehistoric pastoral societies as well as the potential for different complementary foods to be incorporated into infant diets in the past.
本文通过对位于欧亚大陆中部的青铜时代中期墓地卡缅尼安巴尔5号出土的人类骨胶原进行稳定碳（δC）和氮（δN）同位素分析，研究婴儿喂养方式。所呈现的结果在该时期和地区具有独特性，因为很少有墓地被挖掘以揭示该人群的人口统计学全貌。对游牧社会断奶情况的研究并不常见，本研究增加了我们对断奶时间、潜在补充食物以及母乳喂养停止情况的了解。
样本取自41名亚成年人（<15岁）和27名成年人（15岁及以上）。利用成年人以及动物遗骸的同位素参考集，因为这些构成了喂养婴儿的主要和补充食物。
δC和δN值的轻微变化表明，断奶是一个多阶段过程（母乳喂养、断奶和完全停止哺乳），始于6个月大，在幼儿期的几年中进行，并在4岁时完成。
我们的结果表明，断奶是一个多阶段过程，在依赖奶制品作为补充食物的欧亚大陆史前晚期游牧群体中是独特的。我们的讨论集中于用关于欧亚大陆中部和东部游牧社会的现代信息来支持这一假设，包括引入补充食物的年龄、补充食物的类型以及母乳喂养停止的时间。这项工作的核心是游牧经济的性质及其对动物产品的依赖、补充食物对营养和健康的影响，以及牛奶加工可能如何影响食物的营养成分和消化率。这项对欧亚大陆游牧民族的研究为史前游牧社会断奶的复杂性以及过去不同补充食物纳入婴儿饮食的可能性提供了见解。
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