Infant feeding practices and childhood diet at Apollonia Pontica

Isotopic and dental evidence

Bibliographic Data

ID8317108
AuthorsJodi Schmidt (Anthropology Museum University of Winnipeg Winnipeg MB R3B 2E9 Canada, corresponding author), Cynthia S Kwok (0000-0003-4355-7637, University of Calgary), Cynthia Kwok (Department of Anthropology and Archaeology University of Calgary Calgary AB T2N 1N4 Canada), Anne Keenleyside (Department of Anthropology Trent University Peterborough ON K9J 7B8 Canada)
Year2016
Volume159
Issue2
Pages284-299
Publication date2016-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.22874
PMID26481114
OpenAlexW2156201923
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited69

OBJECTIVE: This study analyzes deciduous dental pathology and stable isotopes to investigate the relationship between diet, feeding practices, and oral health in a subadult skeletal sample from the Greek colonial site of Apollonia Pontica, Bulgaria (mid-5th to mid-3rd Centuries BC). METHODS: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis was conducted on 74 bone collagen samples, and the deciduous dentitions of 85 individuals aged 8.5 months to 11 years were examined for evidence of caries, calculus, antemortem tooth loss, abscesses, and occlusal tooth wear. RESULTS: δ(13) C and δ(15) N values of the collagen samples indicate that weaning began between the ages of 6 months and 1 year, and was complete for most individuals by the age of 3. The isotopic data are consistent with a mixed diet of primarily terrestrial C3 resources. The dental pathology data indicate that complementary foods provided to young children had an impact on their oral health early on. Four outliers exhibited elevated δ(15) N values compared with the adult female range and lower levels of tooth wear than other members of their age groups. Possible explanations include prolonged breastfeeding, the consumption of diets elevated in (15) N, and physiological/nutritional stress. CONCLUSIONS: The deciduous dental data correlate well with the isotopic data and are consistent with later textual sources regarding the timing and duration of weaning, and the composition of complementary foods. The results of this research demonstrate the value of combining isotopic and dental evidence to investigate the dietary practices of infants and young children and the impact of these practices on oral health

Biology · Breastfeeding · Deciduous · Deciduous teeth · Deciduous tooth · Isotope analysis · Weaning · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Dentistry · Ecology · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Internal Medicine · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Medicine · Pediatrics