Care of infants in the past: Bridging evolutionary anthropological and bioarchaeological approaches
Date
2020
Authors
Halcrow, Siân
Warren, Ruth
Kushnick, Geoff
Nowell, April
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Evolutionary Human Sciences
Abstract
The importance of care of infants and children in palaeoanthropological and human behavioural ecological research on the evolution of our species is evident in the diversity of research on human development, alloparental care, and learning and social interaction. There has been a recent surge of interest in modelling the social implications of care provision for people with serious disabilities in bioarchaeology. However, there is a lack of acknowledgement of infant and child care in bioarchaeology, despite the significant labour and resources that are required, and the implications this has for health outcomes within societies. Drawing on the recent proliferation of studies on infancy and childhood in evolutionary anthropology and bioarchaeology, this paper presents ways the subdisciplines may draw on research developments from each field to advance a more holistic understanding of the evolutionary, social and health significance of infant and children care in the past.
Description
We thank the organisers of the Wenner Gren Foundation funded Symposium on Children and Innovation for the opportunity to contribute a version of the paper we presented. We received constructive feedback by Melanie Miller on a draft of this paper. Robbie McPhee assisted with some of the graphics.
Keywords
infant care, maternal and infant health, bioarchaeology of care, human evolution, palaeoanthropology
Citation
Halcrow, S., Warren, R., Kushnick, G., & Nowell, A. (2020). Care of infants in the past: Bridging evolutionary anthropological and bioarchaeological approaches. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 2. https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2020.46