Initiating children into Italian Bronze and Early Iron Age ritual, religion and cosmology

The topic of children in ritual and religion in the Italian Bronze and Early Iron Age (c. 2200–700 BC) is approached from the perspective of socialisation and enculturation. It looks for places where children would have learnt how the world worked, both socially and cosmologically. The emphasis lies on the intersection of ritual and religious practices with social life, based on evidence for human remains at caves and settlements (outside formal cemeteries), rock art and stelae, figurines and miniatures. This perspective provides a starting-point for incorporating socialisation and initiation into accounts of Final Bronze Age‒Early Iron Age social transformation.