Brings the science of physical anthropology to bear on understanding how our evolutionary history has shaped a phenomenon everyone has experienced—childhood.
The development of a fetus is an extraordinary biological process by itself, but the story of how we grow up began long before any of us were born. Paleoanthropological science has revealed that deep in our hominid lineage we began to diverge from other primates by giving birth to fatter, more helpless infants and developed one of humanity’s most striking adaptations—the evolution of childhood; a long period of dependence and social learning that makes us the animals we are today.
Beginning with how the differences between humans and our primate cousins lead to difficult births, the book moves through the science of how our unlikely babies have spurred social and cultural adaptations, including the invention of ‘teenagers’ less than a century ago. We learn how anthropologists can interpret the physical evidence of the experience of childhood, including very real risks children have faced in the past, and what archaeological remains tell us about how past societies have treated children.
This book covers both the evolution of human children as biological phenomena and the cultural impact visible in the archaeological record. It examines every aspect of human development, from the evolution of our large-headed, helpless babies right through to the social importance of childhood and adolescence, how this has changed over the millennia, and how we can interpret childhood through the ages using teeth, skulls and bones.