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Weaning age among foragers at Matjes river rock shelter, South Africa, from stable nitrogen and carbon isotope analyses
Author(s) -
Clayton F.,
Sealy J.,
Pfeiffer S.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.20248
Subject(s) - midden , holocene , foraging , weaning , prehistory , δ13c , later stone age , rock shelter , geography , ecology , archaeology , stable isotope ratio , geology , biology , zoology , pleistocene , physics , quantum mechanics
Matjes River Rock Shelter is a large shell midden on the southern coast of South Africa. Stable nitrogen (δ 15 N) and carbon (δ 13 C) isotope ratios were measured in bone collagen and dentine from human skeletons excavated from this site in order to establish a weaning curve in mid‐Holocene hunter‐gatherers. δ 15 N results show a progressive increase in individuals from birth to 1.5 years old. δ 13 C results are more tightly clustered and mirror the steady progressive change seen for δ 15 N. We deduce that children at Matjes River Rock Shelter were breastfed for at least the first 1.5 years after birth, and were weaned sometime between 2–4 years of age. A similar pattern was documented for historic‐era Kalahari foraging people, where the interbirth spacing was approximately 3 years. This study provides the first direct evidence for an extended period of breastfeeding, and thus long interbirth intervals, among prehistoric foragers, even when those foragers lived in an environment with abundant food resources. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.