Infant feeding practice in medieval J apan

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human skeletons from Y uigahama‐minami

Bibliographic Data

ID8317887
AuthorsT Tsutaya (0000-0001-5104-5223, Department of Integrated Biosciences Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo Kashiwanoha 5‐1‐5 Kashiwa Chiba 277‐8562 Japan, corresponding author), Akina Shimomi (Department of Integrated Biosciences Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo Kashiwanoha 5‐1‐5 Kashiwa Chiba 277‐8562 Japan), Tomohito Nagaoka (0000-0001-8802-9593, Department of Anatomy St. Marianna University School of Medicine Sugao 2‐16‐1, Miyamae Kawasaki Kanagawa 216‐8511 Japan), Junmei Sawada (0000-0001-8071-8159, Department of Anatomy St. Marianna University School of Medicine Sugao 2‐16‐1, Miyamae Kawasaki Kanagawa 216‐8511 Japan), Kazuaki Hirata (Department of Anatomy St. Marianna University School of Medicine Sugao 2‐16‐1, Miyamae Kawasaki Kanagawa 216‐8511 Japan), Minoru Yoneda (0000-0003-0129-8921, Department of Integrated Biosciences Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo Kashiwanoha 5‐1‐5 Kashiwa Chiba 277‐8562 Japan)
Year2015
Volume156
Issue2
Pages241-251
Publication date2015-02-01
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.22643
PMID25331669
OpenAlexW2154616717
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited80

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, C 3 ‐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. Am J Phys Anthropol 156:241–251, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Archaeology · Carbon fibers · Isotope analysis · Isotopes of nitrogen · Nitrogen · Physics · Stable isotope ratio · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Chemistry · Computer Science · Geology · History · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Oceanography · Organic Chemistry · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

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