The Bioarchaeological Investigation of Children and Childhood

Abstract

During the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in the study of children and childhood in archaeology and anthropology, with the publication of many papers, books, and theses on this topic (e.g., Baxter 2005b ; Baxter 2008 ; Benthall 1992 ; Crawford and Lewis 2008 ; Gottlieb 2000 ; Kamp 2001b ; Lewis 2007 ; Moore and Scott 1997 ; Panter Brick 1998 ; Schwartzman 2001 ; Scott 1999 ; Sofaer Derevenski 2000 ; Stearns 2006 ; Wileman 2005 ). In past archaeological research, children were marginalized, much like women were, especially because of the perceived close association between children and women (Baxter 2008 ). Children were seen as being unimportant to social life, and their study was thought to be hindered by lack of preservation and therefore under representation of children in the archaeological record (Lewis 2007 ). The initial interest in the archaeology of childhood occurred with the rise of feminist approaches in the 1970s, but with the relatively recent emphases on identity and agency in archaeology, childhood has become recognized as an important focus of study (Baxter 2008 ). In fact, contrary to the dismissal of children in earlier archaeological work it is now recognized that children are signifi cant social and economic actors (e.g., Kamp 2001b ) and overlooking them would ignore an important demographic proportion of past societies (Baxter 2008 :160). Recent bioarchaeological work also recognizes that they are central for understanding biological adaptation and health to their social environment (Lewis 2007 ). Recently, rising tensions between social archaeologists and bioarchaeologists in their approach to the study of human remains has been noted (Sofaer 2006 ),

Cite this

Siân Ellen Halcrow, Nancy Tayles (2011). The Bioarchaeological Investigation of Children and Childhood. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444390537.ch12

@article{ellen2011the,
  title  = {The Bioarchaeological Investigation of Children and Childhood},
  author = {Halcrow, Siân Ellen and Tayles, Nancy},
  year   = {2011},
  doi    = {10.1002/9781444390537.ch12}
}

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