Size counts: the miniature archaeology of childhood in Inuit societies

Abstract

The role and place of children is frequently overlooked in archaeology. Here Robert Park presents an intriguing analysis of the toys of childhood found in Inuit societies in Canada and Greenland, and assesses how such objects inform on the role of children in Arctic societies.

Knowing, Learning and Teaching—How Homo Became Docens

“…Even though it can be organized in various ways (d'Errico & Banks, this issue), most researchers agree that play has a vital role in children's learning. For example, in a study looking into childhood in Inuit societies, Park (1998) emphasizes that children mimic and imitate adults in tasks like hunting, care-taking and household activities, and in so doing the children actually enact the life of the grown-ups (Lombard, this issue). This kind of play is both playful diversion and preparation for integration into society's social and material activities.…”

Fractal Worlds: An Archaeology of Nested Spatial Scales

“…Playthings (Park, 1998) include non-figurative objects involved in various games, as well as miniature equipment (e.g., bow and arrow, harpoon, pot, lamp), simple animal figurines (especially bears; see Betts et al, 2015 for a fascinating exploration of pre-Inuit bear miniatures), wooden dolls, and cobble outlines of diminutive houses (Hardenberg, 2010) and watercraft (Walls, 2012). Judging from the ethnographic evidence, some of these miniatures figured in specific games, such as the flat-bottomed bird figurines or tingmiujaat tossed in a game like jacks, and some, like dolls and playhouses, were involved in a wider variety of play contexts.…”

“…At one scale (perhaps 5% -10% of a child's stature), variously aged and sexed bodies, likely clothed in miniature garments and accompanied by miniature gear and animals, were deployed by children (mostly girls) in imaginative doll play (Park, 1998;Laugrand and Oosten, 2008). These faceless wooden figurines, typically with projecting stubs instead of arms and little integral clothing detail beyond a triangular pubic apron and boots, or occasionally an amulet strap, are by far the most common variety of precontact human depiction (Fig.…”

Unearthing Childhood: The Archeology of Children in North America

“…Here ethnographic information is crucial in helping researchers to understand the archaeological material. Inuit, and most likely their ancestors, don't think of children as completely new members of society or 'empty vessels', but rather as people with a pre-established identity (Park 1998). Robert Park argues that children used miniatures of commonly used adult tools for play and learning.…”