What Teeth Reveal About Childhood, Diet, and Daily Life in Ancient Southern Mesopotamia

What is it about?

This study explores what ordinary people ate and how children were fed in one of the world’s earliest urban societies. By analysing chemical signals recorded in human teeth from Abu Tbeirah, a third-millennium BCE Sumerian city in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), we were able to reconstruct diets—even before birth. The study also applies an innovative method based on zinc isotopes in tooth enamel, which can be analysed even when organic collagen is poorly preserved. This makes it possible to investigate diet in southern Mesopotamia, where traditional collagen-based isotope studies are often not feasible. The findings show that people mainly ate cereals, a limited quantity of meat, and, surprisingly, no marine fish, despite the city’s proximity to the coast. The low consumption of animal products likely reflects both resource management and social status. Men and women had similar access to food. The study also reveals that children were breastfed for a long time and gradually introduced to solid foods such as cereals and animal milk.

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Photo by حسن on Unsplash

Photo by حسن on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study explores what ordinary people ate and how children were fed in one of the world’s earliest cities. By analysing chemical signals recorded in human teeth from Abu Tbeirah, a third-millennium BCE Sumerian city in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), we were able to reconstruct diets—even before birth. The study also applies an innovative method based on zinc isotopes in tooth enamel, which can be analysed even when organic collagen is poorly preserved. This makes it possible to investigate diet in southern Mesopotamia, where traditional collagen-based isotope studies are often not feasible. The findings show that people mainly ate cereals, a limited quantity of meat, and, surprisingly, no marine fish, despite the city’s proximity to the coast. The low consumption of animal products likely reflects both resource management and social status. Men and women had similar access to food. The study also reveals that children were breastfed for a long time and gradually introduced to solid foods such as cereals and animal milk.