Isotopic reconstruction of the weaning process in the archaeological population of Canímar Abajo, Cuba: A Bayesian probability mixing model approach

Abstract

The general lack of well-preserved juvenile skeletal remains from Caribbean archaeological sites has, in the past, prevented evaluations of juvenile dietary changes. Canímar Abajo (Cuba), with a large number of well-preserved juvenile and adult skeletal remains, provided a unique opportunity to fully assess juvenile paleodiets from an ancient Caribbean population. Ages for the start and the end of weaning and possible food sources used for weaning were inferred by combining the results of two Bayesian probability models that help to reduce some of the uncertainties inherent to bone collagen isotope based paleodiet reconstructions. Bone collagen (31 juveniles, 18 adult females) was used for carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses. The isotope results were assessed using two Bayesian probability models: Weaning Ages Reconstruction with Nitrogen isotopes and Stable Isotope Analyses in R. Breast milk seems to have been the most important protein source until two years of age with some supplementary food such as tropical fruits and root cultigens likely introduced earlier. After two, juvenile diets were likely continuously supplemented by starch rich foods such as root cultigens and legumes. By the age of three, the model results suggest that the weaning process was completed. Additional indications suggest that animal marine/riverine protein and maize, while part of the Canímar Abajo female diets, were likely not used to supplement juvenile diets. The combined use of both models here provided a more complete assessment of the weaning process for an ancient Caribbean population, indicating not only the start and end ages of weaning but also the relative importance of different food sources for different age juveniles.

Assessing the association between subsistence strategies and the timing of weaning among indigenous archaeological populations of the Caribbean

“…Equally, however, these groups, although lacking cultigens, did have ready access to a wide range of wild plants and animals, thus leading to a wide range of choices in supplementary foods and thus the high observed variability in nitrogen and carbon stable isotope compositions. This may also have been true for the horticultural population of Canímar Abajo where, despite the availability of some cultigens (Chinique de Armas et al, , ), diets reliant on wild natural resources were still typical. Finally, intrapopulation variations in weaning behaviours have been observed in other human societies (Eerkens, Berget, & Bartelink, ; Howcroft, Eriksson, & Kerstin, ; Kwok et al, this volume; Reynard & Tuross, ; Tsutaya & Yoneda, ).…”

“…This is particularly interesting for Canímar Abajo site (Horticulturalist group), where the adult population was highly dependent on marine resources and a diet including both C 3 and C 4 plants (Chinique de Armas et al, ). A recent Bayesian reconstruction of the age at weaning at this site suggested that only C 3 plants such as root cultigens and legumes were used to wean Canímar Abajo children (Chinique de Armas et al, ). However, a study of Canímar Abajo δ 13 C ap values would be necessary to understand the differences in δ 13 C co between nonadults and female adults.…”

“…The δ 15 N and δ 13 C co values of the 23 adults of those sites are presented in Chinique de Armas, Roksandic, Rodríguez Suárez, Smith, and Buhay (). Collagen isotope data for 29 nonadults and 18 adults from Canímar Abajo were taken from Chinique de Armas et al (). In the case of Paso del Indio, we included δ 15 N, δ 13 C co , and δ 13 C ap (the ratio of 13 C to 12 C in bone apatite) of collagen and apatite extracted from long bone samples of 20 nonadults and 18 adult females (Pestle, ).…”

Breastfeeding and weaning practices of the ancestral Ohlone Indians of California: A case study using stable isotope analysis of bone collagen

“…struction with Nitrogen isotope analysis (WARN) package for R, which uses Bayesian computation to model expected δ 15 N values of bone collagen for infants, based on the mean and standard deviation (SD) of δ 15 N values for females in the population (seeChinque de Armas et al, 2017;Tsutaya & Yoneda, 2013). The WARN package also generates maximum density estimations (MDEs) for age at start and end of weaning, enrichment of δ 15 N bone collagen over δ 15 N breastmilk , and average δ 15 N value of weaning foods.5 | RESULTSStable isotope results were obtained for 201 of the 202 bone collagen samples submitted, excluding one adult male (B175).…”

Societal perceptions and lived experience: Infant feeding practices in premodern Japan

“…Breastfeeding and weaning practices can be reconstructed cross‐sectionally by analyzing the isotope ratios of subadult skeletons from different ages (King et al, ; Redfern, Gowland, Millard, Powell, & Gröcke, ; Xia et al, ). Special kinds of weaning or post‐weaning food whose isotope ratios differ from an adult diet can be detected by comparing the isotope ratios between subadults and adults from the same population (Chinique de Armas et al, ; Katzenberg, Saunders, & Fitzgerald, ; Tessone, García Guraieb, Goñi, & Panarello, ). Because the increase in δ 13 C values in breastfed infants is relatively small (i.e., ~1‰: Fuller, Fuller, et al, ) but inconsistent among different populations (Tsutaya, ), carbon isotopes are usually used as an indicator of special kinds of weaning food (e.g., C 4 plants).…”