Manchester University Press Unearthing Childhood: Young Lives in Prehistory

'Children in prehistory are often neither seen nor heard. In this ground-breaking study Robin Derricourt shows what the accounts of our deep history have missed. Broad in scope, the book encompasses many examples from across the world of human prehistory. Derricourt has put children back at the heart of the history of humanity and Unearthing childhood will be essential reading for everyone who takes the past seriously.' Professor Clive Gamble, Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins, University of Southampton Children are half of the human world, but until recently they have received little dedicated attention from archaeologists. Making an important contribution to this growing area of interest, Unearthing childhood draws together a huge range of materials from multiple disciplines to present the first ever survey of childhood throughout prehistory. Archaeological evidence of children and childhood comes in many forms: finger daubs in art on cave walls, footprints, finds of toys and dolls. The bodies of those who did not survive into adulthood can tell us about the health and diet of the young, while clothing and objects found with them provide clues to their daily life. In addition to this, we can attempt to improve our understanding by comparing prehistoric remains with our observations of more recent societies; and when we consider the earliest hominin ancestors and relatives of our species, comparison with living great apes can also provide illumination. But the core of our expanding knowledge of children in prehistory arises when researchers ask questions they had not asked before. That is the purpose of this book. Surveying a broad range of regions and times – with a focus on examples from Europe, the Middle East and Africa – Unearthing childhood reminds us that there is still much to learn about the ‘hidden half’ of prehistoric society. In doing so, it provides an invaluable reference source for archaeologists and historians who wish to explore these topics further. Review 'Children in prehistory are often neither seen nor heard. In this ground-breaking study Robin Derricourt shows what the accounts of our deep history have missed. Broad in scope, the book encompasses many examples from across the world of human prehistory. Derricourt has put children back at the heart of the history of humanity and Unearthing childhood will be essential reading for everyone who takes the past seriously.' Professor Clive Gamble, Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins, University of Southampton 'The writing style is engaging and clear. Archaeological examples are explained in plain English and scientific research is nicely delineated. The level and quality of writing should appeal to a wide readership from undergraduate or educated non-specialist to research academic.' Catherine J. Frieman, Senior Lecturer in European Archaeology, Australian National University 'The work by Derricourt is a welcome contribution to the literature on childhood, as it focuses on prehistory, an all too often neglected area of childhood research because of the perceived lack of evidence, of both human remains and material culture. In contrast to other archaeological publications on childhood, Derricourt incorporates palaeoanthropological, primatology and ethnographic data, which all bestow fresh perspectives on the balance between the biological necessity for care and specific cultural attitudes to raising children.' Rebecca Redfern, Antiquity, 2018 'Derricourt has succeeded at the Herculean task of reviewing the entire corpus of childhood-relevant material from the archeological record. He has amplified and enriched this account with appropriate material from the ethnographic and historic records. The result is a comprehensive survey of childhood in the distant past.' David Lancy, author of The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings 'Though in prehistoric societies children made up about half the popula