Human Placentophagia: Maladaptive or Misplaced Cultural Taboo?
(University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
The consumption of the placenta, or placentophagia, is a common practice among eutherian mammals, including non-human primates. A number of hypotheses have been offered to explain the adaptive value of this practice; however, each explanation has been disputed with contradictory evidence and is thus unsatisfactory. While this practice is ubiquitous among mammals, it is very rare to non-existent as a “traditional cultural practice” among humans in the ethnographic record. Modern proponents of the human practice have suggested that this behavior is a natural evolutionary mechanism to replenish the nutrients and hormones lost during parturition, and by not practicing placentophagia, human mothers have become susceptible to postpartum affective disorders and nutritional deficiencies. The conspicuous absence of placentophagia in the ethnographic record raises questions regarding the evolutionary path that lead to its disappearance in our species. A search of the Human Relations Area Files was conducted to identify cultural perceptions of the placenta, and practices surrounding its disposal. The search revealed that many cultural beliefs surrounding the placenta attribute to it human qualities and a special tie to the infant. If this is the case, it can be argued that evolving beliefs regarding this organ have transformed the practice of placentophagia from a natural and potentially beneficial behavior into a universal human taboo.