New Prospects for Investigating Early Life-Course Experiences and Health in Archaeological Fetal, Perinatal and Infant Individuals

Abstract

ABSTRACT Children have become firmly embedded within multidisciplinary investigations of young lives, yet within these studies, the youngest members of past populations persist in lingering on the margins of discussion. Fetal, perinatal and infant lives are tangential; unable to articulate their thoughts and feelings, with their position and role in society typically a product of parental or wider social vectors, these individuals, their experiences, and their roles are complex to decipher. Yet as keepers of both biological and social data – regarding themselves, their mothers and wider community dynamics – these individuals are central in developing comprehensive narratives of infanthood in the past. However, a lack of methodologies for investigating these young lives has been a constant limitation. With recent advancements able to further our understanding of these early life courses, it is now pertinent to focus on fetal, perinatal and infant lives further.