Unearthing Childhood: The Archeology of Children in North America

Abstract

The Archaeology of Childhood is a relatively recent focus of archaeological inquiry. An interest in prehistoric childhood comes on the heels of and as a necessary extension of feminist archaeology (Baxter 2008). Archaeological research in the past has largely ignored prehistoric children, or considered them only in the context of site formation processes or child burials (Schwartzman 2006). This neglect of prehistoric children was due to a belief that children were invisible in the archaeological record, because of their unpredictable behavior and their inactivity in the world of adults. They were thought to be passive participants rather than active influencers of their worlds (Baxter 2006).