[ad_1]
© Helena Seidl da Fonseca
Child using a reconstruction of a prehistoric baby bottle. The scientists analyzed the residues in bottles dating back 3,000 years.
Old baby bottles discovered in the graves of infants who died thousands of years ago illuminate the lives of prehistoric parents and their children. The bottles, many of which were purposefully designed to represent mythical animals, contained traces of cow's milk – a discovery that could shed light on a Neolithic population boom.
Humans started to abandon their hunter-gatherer lifestyle to settle in larger agricultural settlements around 7,000 years ago. At that time, they started growing crops and raising animals. This transition is a key moment in human civilization, paving the way for the emergence of modern societies.
Proof of suggested bottles could have been a way to take care of the sick.
In the research published in the journal Nature, a team of scientists analyzed bottles found in the graves of children buried in present-day Germany. The cemeteries date from the iron and bronze ages, one dating from 800 to 450 BC, the other from 1200 to 800 BC. The children with whom they were buried were between 0 and 6 years old.
The bottles studied were discovered for the first time 20 to 30 years ago, during the first search of these sites. However, they recently became available for study and the team wanted to know if they were intended for a child and what they dispensed.
"To be sure that they were baby bottles, we looked very hard for the vessels that were in the children 's graves, and in archeology, everything is in the context, and their presence in the graves of the children. children confirm that these are baby bottles, "said Julie Dunne, lead author of the site. The British University of Bristol, said Newsweek.
The analysis of residues on the bottles showed that they contained traces of milk. Two came from ruminants, such as cattle or sheep, while the other milk was non-ruminant, perhaps a pig or a human being. This proves that these Neolithic people supplemented the diet of their children with milk of animal origin.
One of the studied vessels – like many other examples of bottles from this era – was shaped like a mythical animal. Commenting on the different forms and styles produced, Dunne said, "They all look very different, the zoomorphs, I suppose, are supposed to represent mythical animals that are not as common as the clearer ones." I would also say that I think that we shows the love and care of these prehistoric babies.
"These are almost toys and bottles and would surely have made babies laugh! I think this shows us the love and care that these prehistoric people have had for their babies and gives us a very real connection with the babies. people of the past. "
After the shift to a more agricultural-oriented lifestyle, the Neolithic baby-boom took shape. Several factors have probably contributed to this increase in population, but the discovery of milk used as a supplement for children may have played a role.
"The widespread use of animal milk to feed babies or as an additional weaning food has improved nutrition and helped to increase the birth rate, with shorter intervals between births, which has led to a significant growth of the human population and finally the cities and the rise of urbanization that we see today, "explained Dunne.
About the reasons why the bottles were left in the children's graves, she said: "I tend to think that they belonged to this baby.They may have wanted their children to have them." with them We do not know their religious beliefs or their worldview but maybe they believed in a life after death. "
Related Articles
Sign up for our newsletter and receive Newsweek stories delivered to your e-mail address
[ad_2]
Source link