ABSTRACT

Childhood, whilst a biological stage of human development, is also a social construct. Many cultures have dierent attitudes towards the younger members of the population, and treat them dierently in both life and death.1 Children were once invisible in the archaeological record, but have come into view through an increase in relevant published material in recent years.2 Researchers engaged in the study of children in the archaeological context oen criticize archaeologists for tending to ignore children completely, or, when they are included in archaeological interpretations, for oen depicting them in stereotypical ways that cast them in peripheral roles within the society. is point of view, that children are ‘variables’ rather than ‘cultural actors,’ appears to have stemmed from the notion that children were not really important because their activities did not make a signicant contribution to the society and because, with the exception of mortuary evidence, their behavior le few material traces.3 However, the application of gender-based approaches to archaeology has greatly enhanced our understanding of how families and societies were organized in the past, and children have emerged as making signicant cultural contributions in areas considered important to archaeological research.4 Whether researchers have diverse approaches for the inclusion of children and childhood in archaeological interpretations, or still struggle with how to identify their activities, the need to consider the biological and the cultural aspects of childhood is fundamental.