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atomfullerene t1_iv2ujtg wrote

Reply to comment by BadgerSilver in How many children did Homo Erectus tend to have? by [deleted]

Birth spacing in hunter gatherers is 3-4 years, and it's the same or higher in great apes. Generally speaking, they all tend not to get pregnant while still nursing the previous offspring.

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BadgerSilver t1_iv7k5hg wrote

I don't believe it, we're no different from hunter gatherers in capability of having yearly offspring. In religious communities where I grew up, most families had kids spaced ~2 years apart, and they had access to birth control. Nursing hormones don't outright block pregnancy for 4 years. I bet we can find a study

edit: from the NHS "Most couples will get pregnant within a year if they have regular sex and don't use contraception". We can safely assume this applies to hunter gatherers. This 4 year thing is absurd.

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atomfullerene t1_iv7u0u2 wrote

Nursing frequency and birth spacing in Kung hunter-gatherers

citation for long birth intervals in !Kung

Foraging and Menstruation in the Hadza of Tanzania

citation for shorter, but still 2.5 yr birth intervals for Hazda

Analysis of Factors Involved in Lactational Amenorrhea

citation for big variation in how long infertility lasts during nursing, depending on specific situation...in other words, you can't safely assume that the same thing applies to people with totally different nursing habits and totally different nutritional profiles.

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