The Mother-Infant Nexus in Anthropology: Small Beginnings, Significant Outcomes

Description

Over the past 20 years there has been increased research traction in the anthropology of childhood. However, infancy, the pregnant body and motherhood continue to be marginalised. This book will focus on the mother-infant relationship and the variable constructions of this dyad across cultures, including conceptualisations of the pregnant body, the beginnings of life, and implications for health. This is particularly topical because there is a burgeoning awareness within anthropology regarding the centrality of mother-infant interactions for understanding the evolution of our species, infant and maternal health and care strategies, epigenetic change, and biological and social development. This book will bring together cultural and biological anthropologists and archaeologists to examine the infant-maternal interface in past societies. It will showcase innovative theoretical and methodological approaches towards understanding societal constructions of foetal, infant and maternal bodies. It will emphasise their interconnectivity and will explore the broader significance of the mother/infant nexus for overall population well-being. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: The Mother-Infant Nexus in Archaeology and Anthropology (Rebecca Gowland, Siân Halcrow)....Pages 1-15 Front Matter ....Pages 17-17 Infants in the Bioarchaeological Past: Who Cares? (Siân Halcrow)....Pages 19-38 Like Mother, Like Child: Investigating Perinatal and Maternal Health Stress in Post-medieval London (Claire M. Hodson, Rebecca Gowland)....Pages 39-64 The Mother-Infant Nexus Revealed by Linear Enamel Hypoplasia: Chronological and Contextual Evaluation of Developmental Stress Using Incremental Microstructures of Enamel in Late/Final Jomon Period Hunter-Gatherers (Daniel H. Temple)....Pages 65-82 Front Matter ....Pages 83-83 The Ecology of Breastfeeding and Mother-Infant Immune Functions (Elizabeth M. Miller)....Pages 85-101 What Doesn’t Kill You: Early Life Health and Nutrition in Early Anglo-Saxon East Anglia (Ellen J. Kendall, Andrew Millard, Julia Beaumont, Rebecca Gowland, Marise Gorton, Andrew Gledhill)....Pages 103-123 Cooperative Lactation and the Mother-Infant Nexus (Aunchalee Palmquist)....Pages 125-142 Front Matter ....Pages 143-143 Mothering Tongues: Anthropological Perspectives on Language and the Mother-Infant Nexus (Sallie Han)....Pages 145-155 The Mother-Infant Sleep Nexus: Night-Time Experiences in Early Infancy and Later Outcomes (Helen L. Ball)....Pages 157-171 Moving Beyond the Obstetrical Dilemma Hypothesis: Birth, Weaning and Infant Care in the Plio-Pleistocene (April Nowell, Helen Kurki)....Pages 173-190 Front Matter ....Pages 191-191 Using Bone Histology to Identify Stillborn Infants in the Archaeological Record (Thomas J. Booth)....Pages 193-209 Archaeothanatology as a Tool for Interpreting Death During Pregnancy: A Proposed Methodology Using Examples from Medieval Ireland (Mélie Le Roy, Eileen Murphy)....Pages 211-233 Touching the Surface: Biological, Behavioural, and Emotional Aspects of Plagiocephaly at Harappa (Gwen Robbins Schug)....Pages 235-256 Ruptured: Reproductive Loss, Bodily Boundaries, Time and the Life Course in Archaeology (Rebecca Gowland)....Pages 257-274 Concluding Thoughts: Small Beginnings, Significant Outcomes (Siân Halcrow, Rebecca Gowland)....Pages 275-277 Back Matter ....Pages 279-284