title: Infant mortality and isotopic complexity: New approaches to stress, maternal health, and weaning.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies of the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ(13) C and δ(15) N) of modern tissues with a fast turnover, such as hair and fingernails, have established the relationship between these values in mothers and their infants during breastfeeding and weaning. Using collagen from high-resolution dentine sections of teeth, which form in the perinatal period we investigate the relationship between diet and physiology in this pivotal stage of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Childhood dentine collagen δ(13) C and δ(15) N profiles were produced from horizontal sections of permanent and deciduous teeth following the direction of development. These were from two 19th-century sites (n = 24) and a small number (n = 5) of prehistoric samples from Great Britain and Ireland.
  
  
  RESULTS
  These high-resolution data exhibit marked differences between those who survived childhood and those who did not, the former varying little and the latter fluctuating widely.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breastfeeding and weaning behavior have a significant impact on the morbidity and mortality of infants and the adults they become. In the absence of documentary evidence, archaeological studies of bone collagen of adults and juveniles have been used to infer the prevalence and duration of breastfeeding. These interpretations rely on certain assumptions about the relationship between isotope ratios in the bone collagen of the adult females and the infants who have died. The data from this study suggest a more complex situation than previously proposed and the potential for a new approach to the study of maternal and infant health in past populations.
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, BD7 1DP, UK.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beaumont
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, BD7 1DP, UK.
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buckberry
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK.
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D001106:Archaeology; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D003804:Dentin / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000266:history*; D000068097:Maternal Health / Q000266:history*; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014886:Weaning
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes; D003094:Collagen
keywords: breastfeeding; carbon and nitrogen isotopes; incremental dentine