Derricourt Robin. Unearthing childhood: Young lives in prehistory

Manchester University Press, 2018. — 304 p.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.Robin Derricourt is an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Humanities at the University of New South Wales and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.