Child Bioarchaeology: Perspectives on the Past 10 Years

Abstract

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Childhood “stress” and stable isotope life histories in Transylvania

“…Pathological skeletal analyses follow the BABAO standards (Roberts & Connell, ; Appendix S1). As nonadults are largely considered a sensitive barometer of cultural stress (Inglis & Halcrow, ; Mays, Gowland, Halcrow, & Murphy, ), this study focused on the six nonadult individuals to examine early‐life stress of the “nonsurvivors.” Tooth samples from the six nonadults were selected for stable isotope analysis to evaluate possible links to the non‐specific indicators of childhood “stress” (Table ). Within this study, the category of nonadult was defined as individuals estimated to be ≤16 years at the time of death, based on dental formation (AlQahtani, Hector, & Liversidge, ).…”

Los niños de La Cova de Valdavara (Becerreá, Lugo): Análisis morfológico, patológico y del microdesgaste dental

“…Estas diferencias significativas respecto al resto son interesantes ya que estos dos individuos tienen una edad cercana al período de introducción y consolidación tanto de comidas complementarias como papillas o semilíquidos (Sellen y Smay, 2001;Halcrow y Tayles, 2008;Meehan et al 2013;Mays, 2016;Mays et al 2017;Ventresca-Miller et al 2017;Scott y Halcrow, 2017), como de alimentos más propios de la dieta adulta.…”

“…Precisamente, la reconstrucción de las dietas de poblaciones del pasado es uno de los temas más tratados en antropología dental a través de diferentes aproximaciones, como, por ejemplo, el estudio de patologías, el macrodesgaste dental, los análisis isotópicos o el microdesgaste dental (Ventresca-Miller et al 2017;Mays et al 2017;Scott y Halcrow, 2017). Este último es una herramienta muy útil para caracterizar y diferenciar la dieta de las poblaciones del pasado (Romero et al 2013;Schmidt et al 2015;Schmidt et al 2019), la cual nos permite identificar las propiedades físicas de los alimentos, como son la dureza y la abrasividad, y con ello inferir como fueron procesados los alimentos antes de ser consumidos (Grine, 1986;Lalueza et al 1996;Pérez-Pérez et al 2003).…”

A multifaceted approach towards interpreting early life experience and infant feeding practices in the ancient Atacama Desert, Northern Chile

“…Infant feeding practices are related to diverse factors including maternal and infant health, subsistence base and availability of complementary foods, childcare practices, reproductive decision‐making, and cultural expectations (Larsen, ; Lewis, ; Stuart‐ Macadam & Dettwyler, ). Because of this, the study of weaning has been a focus of bioarchaeological research (see Mays, Gowland, Halcrow, & Murphy, for a review). The complexity of the weaning process and synergistic relationship between infant diet and infant health, however, make interpreting past behaviour challenging (Lewis, , ).…”