Neolithic baby bottles promoted population increase

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the implications of Neolithic animal-shaped baby bottles, particularly their potential role in population dynamics and breastfeeding practices. Participants explore the relationship between early weaning, postpartum infertility, and the introduction of non-human milk, as well as the broader context of dietary practices and genetic adaptations related to lactase persistence.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Historical

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that the use of baby bottles may have allowed women to stop nursing earlier, potentially leading to shorter periods of postpartum infertility and increased population growth.
  • Others question this notion by pointing out that in the animal kingdom, mothers often nurse as long as possible to avoid aggressive mating behaviors, suggesting a different evolutionary strategy.
  • There is speculation about whether the population increase observed around 7000 BCE to 4000 BCE is coincidental or related to the use of these bottles.
  • Participants discuss the potential adaptive advantages of shorter breastfeeding durations, including the possibility of producing more offspring.
  • Some argue that having successful offspring requires adequate food supply and milk sources, linking this to livestock domestication.
  • Genetic changes, such as lactase persistence, are mentioned as important factors that may have influenced the consumption of milk products by adults, suggesting a mutual benefit in husbandry practices.
  • Discussion includes the role of other agricultural products and dietary needs, such as fats and vitamin C, in the context of Neolithic lifestyles.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the implications of the baby bottles and breastfeeding practices, with no clear consensus on the relationship between these factors and population dynamics. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the adaptive significance of these practices and their historical context.

Contextual Notes

Some claims depend on interpretations of archaeological evidence and may not account for all variables influencing population growth or dietary practices in Neolithic societies. The discussion also touches on the complexities of human ecology and genetic evolution without reaching definitive conclusions.

jim mcnamara
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TL;DR
Neolithic animal shaped baby bottles were shown to have non-human milk residue. One reasonably likely outcome is that women who stopped nursing early and used the "bottles" to feed babies had shorter periods of post partum infertility. Nursing extends that time.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesal...storic-babies-drank-animal-milk-from-a-bottle
Neolithic animal shaped baby bottles were shown to have non-human milk residue. One reasonably likely outcome is that women who stopped nursing early and used the "bottles" to feed babies had shorter periods of postpartum infertility. Nursing extends that time. Shorter periods of infertility may have the effect of increasing population growth. It may also have introduced children to potentially harmful pathogens.

According to the article, shortened breastfeeding duration has the effect of shortening the onset of ovulation after birth.

This is a popular science kind of article. Letter to Nature for content seems to be behind a paywall:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1572-x.epdf

J. Dunne et al, Milk of ruminants in ceramic baby bottles from prehistoric child graves
 
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jim mcnamara said:
... women who stopped nursing early and used the "bottles" to feed babies had shorter periods of postpartum infertility. Nursing extends that time.
Unusual.

Watching nature shows on TV makes me an expert - and I often see the opposite in the animal kingdom: mothers trying to nurse as long as possible before weaning, so as to avoid the unwanted (and often aggressive) attentions of males looking to mate.
 
I think it was unintentional but there really is no way to know except that there was a population increase around the same time ~7000BBC to ~4000BCE. Coincidental? Collateral damage? Do not know.
 
The corresponding article in The New York Times has a cute photo of a present-day infant drinking from one of the bottles.
 
Here is a very short Science mag News article on this subject.

DaveC426913 said:
I often see the opposite in the animal kingdom: mothers trying to nurse as long as possible before weaning, so as to avoid the unwanted (and often aggressive) attentions of males looking to mate.
This could potentially be selected for if the lack of an additional pregnancy could result in a better nutritionally supplied offspring would grow up to be a more fit and more reproductively fruitful offspring.

On the other hand, this:
jim mcnamara said:
According to the article, shortened breastfeeding duration has the effect of shortening the onset of ovulation after birth.
could be adaptive due to producing more offspring.
 
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BillTre said:
Here is a very short Science mag News article on this subject.This could potentially be selected for if the lack of an additional pregnancy could result in a better nutritionally supplied offspring would grow up to be a more fit and more reproductively fruitful offspring.

On the other hand, this:

could be adaptive due to producing more offspring.
Quite right.
Having more "successful" offspring necessitates in the first place an adequate food supply.
Otherwise, one could conceive of infant mortality from malnourishment.
 
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256bits said:
Having more "successful" offspring necessitates in the first place an adequate food supply.
In this case an additional prerequisite is to have adequate source of milk - my humble thought is that there might be some connection to the domestication of livestock / spreading of herding.
 
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Absolutely, that is discussed in the NYT article.
 
And lactase is mentioned in the original article, too.

IMO, attendant to that is the genetic change required to be able to consume lactose as an adult , called lactase persistence.

Meaning adults would not have delved into the hassle of providing milk products just for small children and all of the husbandry required - unless they benefited as well. Northern European populations likely had become much more lactose tolerant overall, compared to their founding populations, by the time of the article cited above.

Genetic and human ecological evidence for timing of lactase persistence:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3048992/ -- talks about niche construction and the fact that lactase persistence is a good example. In fact, probably the best one so far, for humans.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24861860 - Overview of LP evolution in Europe.
 
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Interesting thought, @jim mcnamara!

That mutation would have further enabled the domestication of agriculturally significant milk producing species.
Other drivers might include meat, fur/skin production.
 
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BillTre said:
Interesting thought, @jim mcnamara!

That mutation would have further enabled the domestication of agriculturally significant milk producing species.
Other drivers might include meat, fur/skin production.
Consider adding fats to your list in addition to meats. Anthropology books often mention difficulty early people had receiving enough Vitamin C and fats in their diets prior to agriculture.

Researchers of cultures in neolithic Russia and the Pacific Northwest mention mastodons and mammoths hunted and butchered mainly to harvest trunks and foot pads, the latter a concentrated source of beneficial fats. IIRC large skeletal bones preserved as building materials showed no other butcher marks other than the pads; the meat apparently left for scavengers with the large bones collected after mild weathering to use the following seasons.

In a sense the bones take the place of logs and timber as construction materials where trees are scarce. Likewise, ruminant dung would be primary fuel material and could be added to your list of necessary products derived from prey animals. Despite mentioning what appears to be a wasteful practice -- harvesting many mammoths to supply a few foot pads possibly to avoid scurvy -- the same authors stress early people's frugality, normally using every bit of a carcass including hide, gut and ligaments.
 
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  • #12
But wouldn’t they have known that simply eating raw meat would provide the needed vitamin C? That is how indigenous arctic people survive