Introduction to the Historical Archaeology of Children, Childhood and Parenting

Research on the archaeology of childhood is evolving rapidly. Authors in this volume demonstrate the range of children’s experiences across time and space through the complex entanglements that existed, linking the spheres of children and adults. Methods of interpretation and identification of children and childhood in the past presented in this work show the value of recognizing the ubiquity of historical children and their engagement with adult spaces and things. Because many of the perspectives and conclusions are readily transferable to time periods lacking documentary records, the chapters in this book can contribute significantly to archaeological understandings of childhood and parenting in contexts without documentary records of children.