This thesis examines breastfeeding, weaning, and the post-weaning diets of 18 adults (18y+) and two subadults (aged 10y – 14y) from the rural Imperial Roman (1st – 4th c. CE) site of Vagnari, located in southern Italy. The investigation used a new method to sample dentine sections that accounts for the oblique nature of dentine development and allowed for the assignment of age categories to diagenetically altered teeth without visible dentine lines. The results indicate Vagnari children were weaned by ~3.5y, and that some males appear to have been breastfed longer than females. Despite the similar ages-at-weaning across the sample, the individuals in this study demonstrated a variety of weaning rates (i.e., speeds or paces), post-weaning dietary trends, and changes in diet across the life course. Some individuals (n = 6) appear to have been weaned rapidly, marked by significant removal of breastmilk prior to 2.5y, with small amounts of breast milk remaining in the diet until ~3.5y. Other children (n = 9) were weaned gradually, with slow, consistent removal of breastmilk until as late as 5.0y. Throughout and after the weaning period, children were fed a diet based on C3 plants and terrestrial proteins such as wheat, goat/sheep, and their by-products. A comparison of early life dentine and adult bone collagen signals for 14 individuals revealed changes in diet with increasing age, in which most people had increased access to higher terrestrial food sources such as pork and/or small amounts of marine food later in life. However, there was notable variation in dietary trends and practices across the sample, suggesting diverse dietary patterns among people from Vagnari. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / In this thesis, I used samples from tooth dentine to analyze longitudinal stable isotope data for breastfeeding, weaning, and post-weaning dietary signals in a sample of 20 individuals from the Roman Imperial estate of Vagnari (1st – 4th c. CE) located in southern Italy. On average, children were weaned by ~3.5 years of age. Despite the similar age-at-weaning across the sample, individuals exhibited different weaning patterns and diversity in early life dietary practices at Vagnari. During and after weaning, the isotope data indicate that children were fed with C3 plants (e.g., wheat) and terrestrial proteins such as sheep/goat and pig. I analyzed childhood and adult diet by comparing dentine stable isotope data to bone collagen results from a sub-sample of 14 individuals. There was variability between the childhood dentine data and the adult bone collagen data, where individuals appeared to eat more pork and small amounts of fish later in life. This is the first study to explore breastfeeding and weaning practices of rural Roman children in southern Italy using stable isotope analysis of tooth dentine.

In many studies into the infant breastfeeding and weaning practices of ancient communities, it is often the case that a failure to incorporate the isotopic signatures of different tissues leads to a degree of unreliability in breastfeeding and weaning practices (BWP) reconstructions. Using isotopic signatures found in the bone, dentition, and hair tissues of a sample of 171 adults and 164 non-adults, this study addresses a current research gap and builds on previous research, presenting a more thorough examination of stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) values found in the Kellis 2 Cemetery population of the Dakhleh Oasis. These isotopic signatures were used to reconstruct breastfeeding and weaning patterns experienced by the infants and children who lived in Kellis during the Roman period in Egypt (AD 50-450). The results show that infants between 1 and 3 years of age displayed overall enriched δ13C and δ15N values compared with the adult average. Between ages 6 months and 1.5 years, infants maintain a position one trophic level higher than the adult female samples and all non-adult isotopic values in the variant tissues show weaning to be complete by around 2.5-3 years of age. Results of the study present general weaning patterns similar to those reported in a previous study by Dupras et al., 2001, and lend further support to established trends, with slight improvements in the precision of timeline reconstruction. The results highlight the importance of using tissues other than bone collagen for the extraction of isotopes and suggest a need for further study of these BWP to gain a full comprehension of the heterogeneous dietary behaviors and cultural attitudes towards childrearing that were present at Kellis.