Infants' Sippy Cups Existed 3000 Years ago

Pictured are late Bronze Age feeding vessels from Austria. Enver-Hirsch - Wien Museum
Pictured are late Bronze Age feeding vessels from Austria. Enver-Hirsch - Wien Museum
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Infants' Sippy Cups Existed 3000 Years ago

Pictured are late Bronze Age feeding vessels from Austria. Enver-Hirsch - Wien Museum
Pictured are late Bronze Age feeding vessels from Austria. Enver-Hirsch - Wien Museum

Some 3000 years ago, infants drank animal milk in small cups specially designed for them. According to the German News Agency, scientists reached this conclusion by examining drinking vessels that were used in the prehistoric era.

Julie Dunne, the study's lead author from the University of Bristol, said in a statement: "These very small, evocative, vessels give us valuable information on how and what babies were fed thousands of years ago."

In former studies, researchers found that people used drinking vessels made of ceramic 5000 years ago.

However, they didn't manage to determine what people used to drink in these containers, or whether these small cups featuring a beak-like drinking opening were used for infants, elderly, or patients. The examined baby-friendly prehistoric vessels were found in two cemeteries dating back to the period 800 to 450 years B.C., in which children were buried.

Researchers took samples from the vessels and used a combination of different chemical compounds to detect certain fatty acids, which indicated the use of milk from domesticated ruminants such as cows, goats or sheep.

Katharina Rebay-Salisbury of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, who was involved in the study, explained in a statement that "goat's milk is most similar to human milk and was relatively easily available as sheep, goats and cattle were among the most common domesticated animals. But cow's milk was less suitable because it causes diarrhea and digestive problems in babies, which people knew back then."

The animal milk could have been used according to the researchers to supplement mother's milk, or even in babies weaning.

So far, the evidence for weaning in prehistoric times came mainly from the analysis of skeletons. Scientists had previously discovered vessels dating back to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

Researchers believe that infants' sippy cups existed in Old Egypt as well. The scientists plan to expand their study's geographical field in order to examine further similar antiquities.

Rebay-Salisbury emphasized that raising children in prehistoric times was not an easy task. "We are interested in exploring cultural practices of motherhood that have had a massive impact on baby's chances of survival," she added.



Reports: Helmsman of Cargo Ship Run Aground in Norway Was Likely Asleep

 Johan Helberg stands next to his house, with the container ship NCL Salten in the background, after the 135-meter-long ship ran aground in the Trondheimsfjord, outside Byneset, in Trondheim, Norway, Thursday May 22, 2025. (Jan Langhaug/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Johan Helberg stands next to his house, with the container ship NCL Salten in the background, after the 135-meter-long ship ran aground in the Trondheimsfjord, outside Byneset, in Trondheim, Norway, Thursday May 22, 2025. (Jan Langhaug/NTB Scanpix via AP)
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Reports: Helmsman of Cargo Ship Run Aground in Norway Was Likely Asleep

 Johan Helberg stands next to his house, with the container ship NCL Salten in the background, after the 135-meter-long ship ran aground in the Trondheimsfjord, outside Byneset, in Trondheim, Norway, Thursday May 22, 2025. (Jan Langhaug/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Johan Helberg stands next to his house, with the container ship NCL Salten in the background, after the 135-meter-long ship ran aground in the Trondheimsfjord, outside Byneset, in Trondheim, Norway, Thursday May 22, 2025. (Jan Langhaug/NTB Scanpix via AP)

The helmsman of a huge container ship that ran aground in Norway just a stone's throw away from a cabin as its owner slept was probably asleep as well at the time of the accident, Norwegian media reported Friday.

"Only one person was on the bridge at the time. He was steering the vessel, but didn't change course when entering the Trondheim fjord as he should have," the news agency NTB reported.

"Police have received information from others who were on board that he was asleep," police official Kjetil Bruland Sorensen told NTB.

The 135-metre (443-foot) NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg's wooden cabin around dawn on Thursday.

Helberg discovered the unexpected visitor only when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone.

"The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don't like to open," Helberg told television channel TV2.

His neighbor, Jostein Jorgensen, said he was roused at around 5:00 am by the sound of a ship heading at full speed toward land and immediately ran to Helberg's house.

None of the cargo's 16 crew members were injured, and Norwegian police have opened an investigation.

"We are aware of the police stating that they have one suspect, and we continue to assist the police and authorities in their ongoing investigation," the NCL shipping group said Friday.

"We are also conducting internal inquiries but prefer not to speculate further," it added.

Efforts to refloat the ship have failed so far, and the massive red and green container ship remained stuck, looming over the small cabin.