Children feeding practices and growth patterns during Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the Danube Gorges

The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, major shift in subsistence, has been correlated with a general decline in health status and a global reduction of body proportions. Recent stable isotope analyses performed on Mesolithic and Neolithic individuals from the Danube Gorges (Balkans, 9500-5500 BC) document significant differences in term of children feeding practices. Therefore, we examine here how different feeding practices could have influenced children growth patterns and health status. We reconstruct the evolution of growth patterns and health status per age categories (infant-early childhood-childhood), and interpret the results in the light of our current understanding of breastfeeding and weaning patterns.