engleski

When does the childhood end?

The goal of our presentation is to examine the problems associated with determining the upper age limit of childhood in archaeologically-derived skeletal populations. Although the definition of childhood is a culturally determined and varies greatly among groups, anthropologists working in archaeological contexts often assume that childhood is biologically defined— which may reflect a western cultural perspective. Consequently, osteologists, and bioarchaeologists typically define “ childhood” using skeletal parameters as age cut-off points (e.g. epiphyseal fusion, eruption of the third molar), without reference to the cultures they investigate. Here, we wish emphasize the importance of this problem and suggest that bioarchaeologists contextualize the analyses of skeletal remains with observed burial practices and material culture.

childhood; archaeology; skeletal populations

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