Isotopic evidence of dietary variations and weaning practices in the Gaya cemetery at Yeanri, Gimhae, South Korea

Abstract

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted to investigate dietary variation in human skeletons (n = 109) from the Gaya cemetery at Yeanri located near Gimhae City, South Korea. The cemetery contained three distinct grave types dating to 4th-7th century AD. The main purposes of this research were to reconstruct palaeodiet in the Gaya population and to explore correlations between stable isotope compositions and burial types, inferred age, and sex of these individuals. The isotopic data indicate that the people at Yeanri consumed a predominantly C(3)-based terrestrial diet supplemented with freshwater and/or marine resources. The comparison of isotopic results reveals significant differences in delta(13)C values among three adult burial types (wood-cist coffin: -18.5 +/- 0.5 per thousand, stone-cist coffin: -18.1 +/- 0.6 per thousand, mausoleum: -17.8 +/- 0.9 per thousand). Males in wood-cist and stone-cist coffins have relatively more elevated mean delta(13)C and delta(15)N values than females. The isotopic ratios from the two adult age groups (21-40 years and 40-60 years) indicate that there was no significant dietary change in individuals with age. The isotope data from the infants and children suggest the weaning was a gradual process that was completed between 3 and 4 years of age in the Gaya population. This evidence indicates that the dietary variations within the cemetery reflect social status, sex, and childhood consumption patterns.

Estimating weaning and early childhood diet from serial micro-samples of dentin collagen

“…Generally, a pattern emerges where young individuals (e.g., 0e3 years) are elevated in the heavier 15 N with progressively older individuals showing transitional or more adult d 15 N values (Choy et al, 2010;Clayton et al, 2006;Fuller et al, 2006b;Gardner et al, 2011;Herring et al, 1998;Katzenberg and Pfeiffer, 1995;Pearson et al, 2010;Schurr, 1997;Schurr and Powell, 2005). Mays (2003) found a very similar pattern for Sr/Ca ratios from the Medieval cemetery population from Wharram Percy, England, showing increasing Sr/Ca ratios with age at death during the weaning process.…”

“…This sampling strategy gives us the same types of weaning curves seen in the population level studies (e.g., Choy et al, 2010;Clayton et al, 2006;Fuller et al, 2006a,b;Gardner et al, 2011;Katzenberg and Pfeiffer, 1995;Mays, 2003;Schurr, 1997), but at the individual rather than the population level. Provided that enough of the tooth is preserved, a single first molar can be used to reconstruct the entire weaning process, as it records diet from infancy into childhood up to approximately age 9e10.…”

Infant feeding practice in medieval Japan: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human skeletons from Yuigahama‐minami

“…15 N values in several archaeological skeletal populations (e.g., Schurr and Powell, 2005;Choy et al, 2010;Waters-Rist et al, 2011;Beaumont et al, 2013a).…”

Sex‐biased weaning and early childhood diet among middle holocene hunter–gatherers in Central California

“…Because there are so few hunter-gatherer groups around the world today, and because many modern behaviors have evolutionary roots in hunting and gathering settings, reconstructing weaning behaviors from ancient hunter-gatherer populations provides an important and independent data set to test anthropological, evolutionary, and ecological hypotheses about parental investment strategies. Indeed, much recent research has sought to estimate weaning and early childhood diets in ancient populations (Katzenberg and Pfeiffer, 1995;Schwarz, 1998, 1999;Mays, 2003;Clayton et al, 2006;Fuller et al, 2006aFuller et al, , 2006bDupras et al 2007;Choy et al, 2010;Eerkens et al, 2011;Nehlich et al, 2011).…”