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Semester 2

The Archaeology of Children and Childhood (ARCA10098)

Subject

Archaeology

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed at least 3 Archaeology courses at grade B or above, including courses equivalent to Archaeology 2A and 2B. We will only consider University/College level courses. **Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

It has been stated that '...while children are a relatively unchanging fact of life, childhood is a constantly shifting concept' (Marten, 2018: 1). This course will explore childhood as a social construct, and the archaeological evidence for differing experiences of children over time and space. It will incorporate multidisciplinary perspectives from history, classics, and anthropology on themes such as identity, agency, gender, mobility, health and diet, structural violence and political/social reform.

Course Description

The study of children and childhood has long been of interest in the fields of archaeology, history, and classics, highlighting the importance of this particular age group in understanding past societies. It is a matter of fact that children have always been present throughout pre-history to the modern-day, but their voices and lived experiences have not always been directly accessible, often presented through an archaeological record generated, and interpreted, by adults. The concept of 'childhood' too is a social construct, subject to the needs of a population within a particular geographic or temporal context, and economic, political, cultural and environmental influence. Within this course, students will take a critical approach to how we can identify evidence of children and childhood in the past through a combination of theoretical and scientific approaches, including osteoarchaeology, analysis of settlements, material culture, and funerary practices. It will also incorporate historical, classical, and anthropological perspectives to explore the shifting perception of childhood over time and space, and evidence of identity and agency of children in past societies, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary research. It will cover a range of themes including: childcare practices, health and disease, death and burial, voluntary and forced migration, domestic and occupational roles, marginalised childhoods, and transitions between life stages. Recognising the unique role that the study of childhood in the past can play in the education of children in the present day, students will also consider the value of research-led public outreach initiatives throughout the course. They will also gain hands-on experience in analysis of archaeological human skeletal remains during a lab-based practical session.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on an Archaeology or HCA exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in one 3rd year Archaeology course each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a second course from this group will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the January Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the extremely limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course