Rebecca Gowland – Child Space 2025 | Day 1 Session 1 – Rise of Children скачать в хорошем качестве

Rebecca Gowland – Child Space 2025 | Day 1 Session 1 – Rise of Children

Small Beginnings: Theoretical and Methodological Advances in the Bioarchaeological Analysis of Infants in the Past Rebecca Gowland Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, UK For many years infant remains were largely overlooked by archaeologists studying the past. Sites with large numbers of infant burials tended be interpreted either in terms of ritualised deposits, infanticide, or disposal, with very little attempt to consider their wider socio-cultural context or significance. Over the last two decades there has been a growing awareness of the importance of infant remains for understanding past populations. Developments in epidemiology have highlighted the critical significance of fetal and infant wellbeing for life- long disease risk. This has generated a greater emphasis in bioarchaeology on the importance of infancy and the need for a life course approach to health. Furthermore, the interconnectedness of the infant-mother nexus means that the skeletal remains of infants can provide unique information concerning maternity and maternal health. Exciting scientific developments are also enabling us to ask new questions about the past from the analysis of infant remains; for example, incremental dentine collagen stable isotope analysis of deciduous teeth allows us to explore maternal and infant health and stress. In addition, amelogenin peptide analysis provides a robust new method for estimating the sex of infants. This talk will summarise some of the key theoretical and methodological advances in the study of infants in the past, reflecting on both the challenges and potentials, and will suggest future directions. More information: https://www.childspacebudapest2025.com/