The Archaeology of Childhood

1. The Archaeology of Childhood in Context

Childhood in Anthropology
Childhood in Archaeology
The Importance of an Archaeology of Childhood
Chapter Organization

2.Theorizing Childhood in Archaeology
Introducing the Child's World
Children and Gender: Cultural Categories in Archaeology
Children as Active Participants in the Past
Moving forward: Socialization and the Study of Childhood

3. The Cultural Creation of Childhood: The Idea of Socialization
The Concept of Socialization: An Intergenerational Discourse
Agents of Socialization and the Imparting of Cultural Knowledge
Socialization in the Past
Socialization Across Cultures

4. Socialization and the Material Culture of Childhood
Multiple Meanings and Material Culture
Socialization in the Use of Material Culture: Toys and Playthings
Identifying Toys in Archaeological Contexts
Socialization in the Making of Material Culture: Apprenticeship and Situated Learning
Studying Apprenticeship and Learning in the Archaeological Record

5. Socialization, Behavior, and the Spaces and Places of Childhood
Children as a "Distorting Factor" in the Archaeological Record
Socialization and the Use of Space
Children at Play
Children at Work
Children and Space across Cultures
Children and Space in the Archaeological Record
Socialization, Space and Archaeology of Childhood

6. Socialization, Symbols, and Artistic Representations of Children
Depicting Childhood, Depicting Gender
Children at Work and at Play
Child Rearing and Parenting
Children as Cultural Symbols

7. Socialization, Childhood, and Mortuary Remains
What are we studying when we analyze mortuary remains?
Children as a Category in Mortuary Archaeology
Identifying Age Based Categories through Mortuary Remains
Childhood Health, Nutrition, and Mortality
Children and the Elucidation of Horizontal Social Categories
Children as Indicators of Vertical Social Status
Mortuary Monuments and Representations of Children

8. Themes and Lessons from the Archaeology of Childhood
Socialization, Gender, and the Cultural Construction of Childhood
Casting Children as Actors
Child, Family, Community, Society
All Archaeology is the Archaeology of Childhood
Bibliography
Index

In this elegant book, Jane Baxter provides a manifesto for why archaeologists should care about children, and develops archaeological methodologies for studying childhood and children on their own terms. Drawing on developmental psychology, cultural anthropology, biology, and gender theory, Baxter constructs a general framework for understanding the socialization process, focusing on the various mechanisms through which cultural knowledge is transmitted and transformed. To these disciplinary perspectives, Baxter adds an interest in material culture and the patterned use and construction of space and place by children, to provide tools by which archaeologists can identify and examine this important and long-neglected segment of all human societies. This result is a work that should be read by all archaeologists and former children interested in understanding cultural transmission and social structures and processes.