Weaning and Early Childhood Diets at Two Early Period Sites: Implications for Parental Investment and Population Growth in Central California. (3rd July 2017) - Eerkens, Jelmer W.
Abstract: Using stable isotope analysis of serial samples in permanent first molars, we reconstruct age of weaning and early childhood diets for eight individuals at CA-SJO-112, a 3, 000–3, 300 cal B.P. site in central California. We compare the results to previously published data from a nearby contemporary site, CA-CCO-548. Data show that, on average, children were weaned earlier at CA-SJO-112, but unlike at CA-CCO-548, boys and girls were eating similar types of foods and overall dietary composition was more homogenous among all children at CA-SJO-112. These differences suggest alternative parental investment strategies at the two sites, perhaps due to greater sharing and communal foraging at CA-SJO-112. Combined with low apparent infant mortality rates and similar rates of stress, as measured by rates of linear enamel hypoplasia, earlier weaning at CA-SJO-112 has important implications for population growth in the region.