Tag Archives: birth

Bony changes at the sacrum – can they give evidence on past pregnancies and parturition?

Posted on September 12, 2019 by Katharina

written by Doris Pany-Kucera, 12.9.2019 in Vienna Physical anthropologists have long desired to assess past pregnancies and births on human skeletal remains. They developed different methods, building on features of the pelvis that differ between male and female skeletons. However, … Continue reading →

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What did prehistoric people know about conception?

Posted on December 20, 2016 by Katharina

Even today, stories of women who gave birth without knowing they were pregnant make the news occasionally. Although I do not normally follow such sensationalist news, they do not cease to fascinate me. Yes, it is possible, despite the tell-tale … Continue reading →

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Motherhood and marginality

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Katharina

Last week, I attended the workshop The End of the Spectrum: Towards an Archaeology of Marginality at UCL London, organized by my lovely colleague Elisa Perego. The marginality network is especially interested in social exclusion in present and past societies. … Continue reading →

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Embryotomy – Fetotomy

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Katharina

If you are squeamish, you may want to skip this blog post. For those of you, who love gruesome stories, here you are: Not too long ago I reported on the origins of the C-section in this blog post. Meanwhile, … Continue reading →

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The gruesome origins of the C-section

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Katharina

For a while now I have been collecting archaeological evidence for pregnant women of the Iron Age, as I proposed to speak on this topic at an Iron Age conference in November. As it turns out, graves of pregnant women … Continue reading →

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Prehistoric child spacing

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Katharina

All parents who would like a sibling for their children probably wonder about the best time to enlarge their family. Today, we can chose to have children close together or spaced apart; the former approach ensures the children have playmates … Continue reading →

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Eating the placenta: would you like yours raw, medium or well done?

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Katharina

BBC health recently entertained me with the headline ‘Eating your placenta does not bring health benefits’. I was glad to hear that. Although I never considered eating my placentas, I felt a little cheated after my own births because I … Continue reading →

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Giving birth in the Iron Age

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Katharina

Neither historical records nor image sources illustrate what life was like for much of human prehistory. From the early Iron Age in Central Europe (c.800-400 BC), however, human representations capture some snapshots of the lives of the elite. As I … Continue reading →

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Twins

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Katharina

The latest issue of the journal Antiquity published a sad, yet fascinating report of a woman who died whilst giving birth to twins. Found at Lokomotiv in southern Siberia and dated to 7810-7640 cal BP, the woman in grave R11 … Continue reading →

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Orangutan birth

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Katharina

Yes, I promised part two of “Sleep is overrated” and I hope to get to it later today, but first, I have to share this video of an Orangutan giving birth in captivity. It is fantastic to watch how she … Continue reading →

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