Women and children first

Abstract

The last two decades have seen an exponential rise in scholarly interest and research into childhood, and children, in the past (e.g. Scheuer & Black 2000; Baxter 2005; Lewis 2007; Finlay 2013; Halcrow et al. 2018). Multiple publications have explored the scholarly origins of the field, detailing its complex and multidisciplinary development (Prout 2005; Halcrow & Tayles 2008; Lillehammer 2015; Mays et al. 2017). Several authors (e.g. Lillehammer 2015; Mays et al. 2017) have also, very successfully, synthesised extant research themes and investigations, and proposed future research directions. Consequently, although this field is in its relative infancy, its voice is louder than ever as the importance of studies of childhood and children in the past is realised.

Seeing Children in Prehistory: A View from Bronze Age Ireland

“…It is now well established that age categories are culturally contingent (Hodson 2019; Kamp 2001). Children make up a large portion of any society and are likely to be bound up in wider power strategies and socio-political systems (Schwartzman 2005), though these manifest in different ways, and we cannot assume that meaningful separation between adults and children existed in every society (Bird-David 2015).…”

“…However, increased attention in the last 10–15 years (e.g. Baxter 2005b; Coşkunsu 2015; Crawford et al 2018; Derricourt 2018; Hodson 2019; Mays et al 2017) means that this is no longer the case (Baxter 2019; Kamp 2015).…”

“…As with gender (Butler 1990; Sørensen 2000), childhood is a cultural construct (Baxter 2005c; Hodson 2019; Kamp 2001) which is ‘complicated by biological factors’ (Kamp 2005, 116): it is a social phenomenon which is intricately tied up with physical bodies, which are the focus of mortuary practice. What was done with a body after death is revealing of how that person was considered and understood by the gathered community.…”