Childhood in Colonial Otago, New Zealand: Integrating Isotopic and Dental Evidence for Growth Disturbance and Oral Health

King, Charlotte L.; Kinaston, Rebecca L.; Snoddy, Anne Marie E.; Buckley, Hallie R.; Petchey, Peter; Millard, Andrew R.; Gröcke, Darren R.

doi:10.1080/17585716.2021.1989211

Childhood in Colonial Otago, New Zealand: Integrating Isotopic and Dental Evidence for Growth Disturbance and Oral Health

King, Charlotte L.; Kinaston, Rebecca L.; Snoddy, Anne Marie E.; Buckley, Hallie R.; Petchey, Peter; Millard, Andrew R.; Gröcke, Darren R.

Authors

Charlotte L. King

Rebecca L. Kinaston

Anne Marie E. Snoddy

Hallie R. Buckley

Peter Petchey

Dr Andrew Millard a.r.millard@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Professor Darren Grocke d.r.grocke@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Experiences of childhood in colonial New Zealand are difficult to reconstruct from the historical record alone. Many of those who came to the colony were illiterate, and the Victorian tendency to avoid discussion of pregnancy and breastfeeding practices restricts our understanding of this important period. Bioarchaeological investigation, however, has the potential to illuminate the life stories of these first-generation Pākehā (European) settlers. Here we use isotopic evidence combined with dental pathology from children interred in a historic cemetery from Otago, New Zealand, to examine colonial childhood. We show how weaning practices in the colony differ from those experienced by their emigrant parents, highlight periods of illness likely associated with the weaning process, and bring to light the potential problems caused by maternal Vitamin D deficiency in the colony.

Citation

King, C. L., Kinaston, R. L., Snoddy, A. M. E., Buckley, H. R., Petchey, P., Millard, A. R., & Gröcke, D. R. (2022). Childhood in Colonial Otago, New Zealand: Integrating Isotopic and Dental Evidence for Growth Disturbance and Oral Health. Childhood in the Past, 15(1), 15-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/17585716.2021.1989211

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Nov 8, 2021
Publication Date	2022
Deposit Date	Nov 11, 2021
Publicly Available Date	May 8, 2023
Journal	Childhood in the Past
Print ISSN	1758-5716
Electronic ISSN	2040-8528
Publisher	Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	15
Issue	1
Pages	15-43
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1080/17585716.2021.1989211

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Childhood in the Past on 08 November 2021, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17585716.2021.1989211.