The mother-infant nexus in anthropology : small beginnings, significant outcomes / Rebecca Gowland, Siân Halcrow, editors.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gowland, Rebecca, editor.

Halcrow, Siân, editor.

Series:

Bioarchaeology and social theory 2567-6776

Bioarchaeology and social theory, 2567-6776

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mother and infant.

Motherhood.

Physical anthropology.

Mother-Child Relations.

Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena.

Perinatal Death.

Anthropology, Physical--methods.

Archaeology--methods.

Medical Subjects:

Mother-Child Relations.

Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena.

Perinatal Death.

Anthropology, Physical--methods.

Archaeology--methods.

Physical Description:

xv, 284 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Springer, [2020]

Summary:

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. .

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. .

Contents:

Foreword

Chapter 1. Introduction: The Mother-Infant Nexus in Archaeology and Anthropology

Part 1. Infant and maternal health in bioarchaeology

Infants in the bioarchaeological past: who cares?

Like mother, like child: Investigating perinatal and maternal health stress in Post-Medieval London

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-gathers

Part 2. Nourishment and the Nexus

The ecology of breastfeeding and mother-infant immune functions

What doesn't kill you: Early life health and nutrition in early Anglo-Saxon East Anglia

Cooperative Lactation and the Mother-Infant Nexus

Part 3. Social and cognitive interactions in early life

Mothering tongues: Anthropological perspectives on language and the Mother-Infant Nexus

The Mother-Infant sleep nexus: night-time experiences in early infancy and later outcomes

Moving beyond the obstetrical dilemma hypothesis: Birth, weaning and infant care in the Plio-Pleistocene

Part 4. Rupturing the nexus: infant loss in the archaeological record

Using bone histology to identify stillborn infants in the archaeological record

Archaeothanatology as a tool for interpreting death during pregnancy: A proposed methodology using examples from Medieval Ireland

Touching the surface: Biological, behavioural, and emotional aspects of plagiocephaly at Harappa

Ruptured: Reproductive loss, bodily boundaries, time and the life course in archaeology

Concluding thoughts: Small beginnings, significant outcomes

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9783030273927

303027392X

OCLC:

1129255388