Baby bottles have been around for thousands of years and may help us understand the prehistoric baby boom.
H. Seidl da Fonseca/Nature JournalWhile the switch from maternal milk to animal milk allowed mothers to become more fertile again, leading to more children, these vessels were difficult to clean and could cause many illnesses and deaths.
The study, published in the journal Nature, also offers one possible explanation for the rise in birth rates during the Neolithic era.
Scientists “didn’t realise that adding animal milk to infants’ diets could impact women’s fertility,” explained bioarchaeologist Sian Halcrow. This is “the first direct evidence that these baby bottles contained animal milk” – and it has significant implications.
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