Our study explores the potential relationship between infant feeding practices and settlement complexity in the Roman Empire through high-resolution Bayesian-modeled stable isotope measurements from incremental dentine. We compiled isotopic data from permanent first molars of individuals from various Roman sites: five from Bainesse (UK), 30 from Thessaloniki (Greece), along with new carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses from four individuals from Pompeii and six from Ostia Via del Mare (AVM). Our results reveal significant inter-site variability in breastfeeding durations, ranging from 1.5 years to approximately 5 years. Notably, individuals from the highly complex urban centers of Pompeii and Thessaloniki ceased breastfeeding around or below the 2-year weaning threshold recommended by Roman physicians. In contrast, individuals from the rural site of Ostia AVM and the site of Bainesse, near the northern frontier of the Roman Empire, generally ceased breastfeeding after 2 years of age. The link between settlement complexity and duration of breastfeeding observed in our study may have resulted from adherence to medical guidelines, support infrastructures, and/or strategies to mitigate financial constraints within households.

ArchaeoBioCenter Ludwig Maximilians Universität München Geschwister Scholl Platz 1 München 80539 Germany

Arne Faculty of Arts Masaryk University Nováka 1 Brno střed 602 00 Czech Republic

Climate Change and History Research Initiative Princeton University Princeton NJ 08544 USA

Department of Archaeology Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology Kahlaische Str 10 Jena 07745 Germany

Department of Archaeology Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador St John's NL Canada A1B 3R6

Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale and Mediterranean bioArchaeological Research Advances centre Sapienza University of Rome Piazzale Aldo Moro 5 Roma 00185 Italy

Dipartimento Di Culture e Civiltà University of Verona Via dell'Università 4 Verona 37129 Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali Biologiche e Farmaceutiche centre Università degli studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli Via Vivaldi 43 Caserta 81100 Italy

Faculty of Archaeology University of Warsaw Krakowskie Przedmieście 26 28 Warsaw 00 927 Poland

Parco archeologico di Ostia antica MIC Viale dei Romagnoli 717 Roma 00119 Italy

Parco Archeologico di Pompei P zza Porta Marina Inferiore 7 Pompei 80045 Italy

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