Dear Members and Friends of Anglo-Belarusian Society,

You are cordially invited to the talk “What can your teeth tell about your childhood? Breastfeeding, puberty and growing up in medieval Polack” by Vera Haponava, the Belarusian researcher (University of Edinburgh) on Saturday 10 October 2026 at 14.30.

The talk, with questions and discussion will finish by about 16.00, after which time there will be the buffet reception with soft drinks, wine, tea and coffee, which will close at 17.00, prior to the Church Service at 17.30.

Abstract: In the past, when sterilised baby foods were not available, infant feeding was a matter of life and death. Implications of infant feeding span across generations. Unsurprisingly, this matter attracts interest of archaeologists. My project was the first to identify weaning time and practices in the past of Belarus, as well as explore later childhood experiences up to young adulthood age. In this talk, you will learn how to establish when children were weaned from breast milk, using biochemical analysis of teeth extracted from adult skeletal remains (do not repeat at home !!).