ABSTRACT

The natural economy for human beings involved hunting and gathering. Most of the history of the species has been wrapped up in a hunting and gathering economy, and this means that the initial ideas and practices directed at childhood were formed in this context as well. Our knowledge about hunting and gathering societies in the past is limited, and this certainly applies to childhood; most evidence comes from material remains plus observation of some of the hunting and gathering societies that have persisted into modern times. Assessing childhood in these societies is important nevertheless, because traces of hunting and gathering habits linger today, even in very different economies, and because some of the natural or inherent aspects of childhood shine through as well. People in hunting and gathering societies, for example, were responsible for the fundamental adjustments to prolonged dependency in childhood, which differentiated them from their ancestors and cousins among the other primate species.