Reconciling Identities in Life and Death: The Social Child in the Early Helladic Peloponnese

David Michael Smith Childhood in the Past: An International Journal 4.1 (Summer 2011): 46-62.

Abstract

This paper utilises the fragmentary child mortuary record of the Early Helladic Peloponnese to approach the social identity of children during this period. Where possible, attempts are made to accurately date these burials, while analysis of both their bioarchaeological and archaeological characteristics allows us to recognise the existence of regional and inter-regional burial ideologies and depositional practices specifically relating to the very young, which may permit the identification of infant burials even in the absence of skeletal remains.