Assessing maternal and infant health through stable isotope analysis of auditory ossicles

生命从受孕开始的头1000天对未来的健康结果至关重要。在这一阶段经历的压力因素，包括孕产妇健康状况不佳，会影响个人整个生命周期和后代的福祉。迄今为止，在考古研究中，母亲和婴儿一直被边缘化，然而，新的方法为研究怀孕、母亲和婴儿护理提供了独特的机会。该项目将通过改进新的生物分子技术——人类听小骨的同位素分析——并将其与增量同位素和古病理学数据相结合，来检查过去的母婴健康状况。

The first 1000 days of life from conception are crucial for future health outcomes. Stressors experienced during this phase, including poor maternal health, affect the well-being of individuals throughout their lifespans and across future generations. Motherhood and infancy have been marginalised in archaeological studies to date, however, new methods are providing unique opportunities for studying pregnancy, motherhood, and infant care. This project will examine maternal and infant health in the past through the refinement of novel biomolecular technique - the isotopic analysis of human auditory ossicles - and its integration with incremental isotope and palaeopathological data.