From The Mouths Of Babes: Pots That Weaned Prehistoric Infants

Scientists found chemical traces of animal milk in the ancient vessels

Archaeologists have uncovered the first evidence that prehistoric ancestors of humans in Europe weaned their infants much the way we do now, using specialised baby bottles to feed them animal milk.

The discovery casts rare light on childhood and childrearing in ancient humans — an area that experts say has long been overlooked.

“This is the first direct evidence for what babies and infants were eating and drinking in prehistory,” said Julie Dunne, the study’s lead author and a biomolecular archaeologist at the University of Bristol.

The research, published in the journal Nature, focuses on three bowls found in children’s graves in Iron and Bronze Age burial grounds in modern-day Bavaria.

Two came from a cemetery complex dating to between 800 and 450 BC, and a third from a site dating between 1200 and 800 BC.