Children & Objects
These reconstructions were made as part of a conference presentation at TAG 2022. The project was essentially one of "dress up," where we drew modern children interacting with past objects in order to explore the aspects of childhood that traditional reconstructions miss.
Watch the Presentation for Yourself
This presentation was presented at the Edinburgh meeting of the Theoretical Archeological Group in 2022.
Kids teaching kids
One of the themes in archeological reconstruction is that you usually only see adults teaching kids. Its usually formal, with an adult passing on information and supervising the child. Yet, a lot of childhood learning happens between kids in a more informal way: young kids watch older kids and copy them and older kids show younger kids how to do things.
Basket production based on Apulian kalathos, Metropolitan Museum of Art 06.1021.221 (1)
“Digging stick’ excavated at Star Carr (2)
Cup and ring marked rock near Cairnbaan, Argyll And Bute, Great Britain (3)
Exploration
Most learning in childhood comes through exploration: testing the world to understand its basic properties.
Columns of the Acropolis of Athens
Medieval Heddle from Gotland, Statens Historiska Museum 120034 (4)
Child-height coin impressions on the atrium of the House of the Ancient Hunt, Pompeii (5)
Towie Ball National Museum of Scotland X.AS 10 (6)
Neolithic hand axe from Honiley, Warwickshire (7)
Work and Play
When we think of child labor, we often think of exploitation: children in mines and factories and farms. This is an important part of the story, and one that we should not ignore (particularly as it is still going on), but it's not the only relationship between children and work. Kids can participate in labor in a lot of ways: as craftspeople, hunters, gatherers, economic laborers, and domestic help. They also have a lot of different relationships to work: some may enjoy it, others may find it deeply traumatizing. Some may focus intently on their tasks, others might use work as a means of play. Some will be efficient and diligent, others will get distracted and wander away. It's a relationship that is increasingly being explored by archeologists - and so should appear in their reconstructions.
Basket reconstruction based on Apulian kalathos, Metropolitan Museum of Art 06.1021.221 (1)
Pottery bowl T302 from The Tianluoshan Neolithic Site at Yuyao, Zhejiang (8)
Kids Raising Kids
Childcare is something that kids are able to do, and it's a task that young children often have an affinity for. In fact, taking on childcare responsibilities is still a normal part of childhood today - whether it's watching a sibling while a parent is performing another task nearby, or taking care of younger children when adults are not present.
Spouted vessel from child burial in Bavaria (9)
Glass beads from a child burial in Birka (10)
Part of this illustration is to show the learned behavior of childcare. When kids are expected to enforce discipline, they copy the behavior of their caregivers - both good and (in this case) bad. Long story short, don't spank your kids.
Multiplicity of Objects
Archeologists like specific categories for things. A digging stick is a digging stick and it is used for digging. But few of us use objects for just one purpose: my coffee cup is used to hold coffee, dry paintbrushes, water my plants, prop up my phone, and hold down my papers on a windy day. This is something that is especially true for children: objects take on new lives as toys, learning aids, props for play and storytelling, and tools to reach things that they are not supposed to.
“Digging stick’ excavated at Star Carr (2)
Italian early Neolithic stone ring bracelet (11)
Age, change, and objects
Not only do objects get used in many different ways, but objects change meaning for children as they grow and develop. A baby bottle for a 1-year-old can become a toy for a 2-year-old and a tool for a 3-year-old.
Spouted vessel from child burial in Bavaria (9)
Emotion
A big part of childhood is learning emotional regulation. Archeological illustration tends towards muted emotions, as if the past was a calmer, more stoic place - an assumption that often cannot be proven one way or another. Even where it is true, children are still learning how to be calm, stoic adults and they won't always get it right. I would argue that showing children as emotionless is more of a stretch than showing them as emotional.
Frustration
Portuguese water cup, 17th century (12)
Fear
Pottery pot T103 from The Tianluoshan Neolithic Site at Yuyao, Zhejiang (13)
Anger
Carved stone ball found near Aberdeen, Ashmolean Museum (AN1927.2730)
Delight
Etruscan kyathos (ladle) with duck-head terminal, the Metropolitan Museum of Art X.21.90
Looking for an object?
Click the link to see the original objects that we used for this project: