Unearthing childhood : young lives in prehistory /
Robin Derricourt.
- [Manchester] : Manchester University Press, (c)2018.
- 1 online resource (xxvi, 276 pages) : illustrations.
Includes bibliographies and index.
Understanding: the deep past of childhood : Who are children, what is childhood? ; The missing children ; The use of analogy ; Recent hunter-gatherers ; Higher primate relatives ; The framework of hominin prehistory ; The deep past -- Being: birth, motherhood and infancy : Primate dependency and independence ; Evolution of the hominin family ; Mothers and babies -- Growing: the child in the family : Visual impressions of the prehistoric family ; The 'traditional' family ; Carrying a young child ; Questions and answers -- Feeding: weaning, eating and health : Great apes ; Prehistoric forager weaning and after ; Food provision and diet in modern small-scale societies ; Weaning and food preparation in agricultural groups ; Diet and health -- Wearing: clothing, adornment and body shaping : Ornamentation and clothes ; Prehistoric foragers' body covering and body ornamentation ; Prehistoric agriculturalist clothing and adornment ; Body shaping -- Learning: knowledge and skills : Learning and tool use among the great apes ; Hominin evolution and knowledge transmission ; Learning and work in recent small-scale societies ; Stone tools and apprenticeship ; Children's involvement in rock art ; Pottery and crafts in prehistoric farming communities -- Playing: fun, games, toys and culture : Primates at play ; Foragers and farmers, ancient and modern ; Games, toys and miniature items ; Children's dolls and adult figures -- Fighting: conflict and violence : Archaeological evidence of conflict ; Conflict and violence among prehistoric foragers ; Conflict and violence among prehistoric farmers ; Sacrifice ; Toy and real weapons -- Dying 1: Death and burial in forager societies : The death of children ; Great apes ; Australopithecines ; Early homo ; Neanderthals and the middle palaeolithic ; Homo sapiens and the upper palaeolithic ; Advanced foragers of the prehistoric world ; Modern hunter-gatherers -- Dying 2: Death and burial in Old World farming societies : Neolithic of the Middle East and Europe ; Copper and Bronze Ages of the Middle East and Europe ; Iron Age Europe ; African farmers ; Other regions -- Progressing: the future of childhood's deep past.
"This is the first book to survey the 'hidden half' of prehistoric societies as revealed by archaeology, from Australopithecines to advanced Stone Age foragers, from farming villages to the beginnings of civilisation. Prehistoric children can be seen in footprints and finger daubs, in images painted on rocks and pots, in the signs of play and the evidence of first attempts to learn practical crafts. The burials of those who did not reach adulthood reveal clothing, personal adornment, possession and status in society, while the bodies themselves provide information on diet, health and sometimes violent death. This book demonstrates the extraordinary potential for the study of childhood within the prehistoric record, and will suggest to those interested in childhood what can be learnt from the study of the deep past."--Publisher's description
9781526128096
Children, Prehistoric. Children, Prehistoric--Social conditions. Social archaeology.