Care, Socialization and Play in Ancient Attica : A Development Childhood Archaeological Approach

by: Sommer, M. Sommer, M.

 
Care, socialization and play in Ancient Attica : a developmental childhood archaeological approach

Authors:Maria Sommer (Author), Dion Sommer (Author)

Summary:Care, Socialization and Play in Ancient Attica scrutinizes in how infants and young children were nursed, cared for and socialized in the oikos (family unit). In what ways were mothers and fathers emotionally engaged in their offspring or were they merely indifferent? What were the developmental consequenses of growing up in multiple relationships? How were young children engaged in various types of play in everyday life and what toys were made for and handled by infants and young children? The developmental significance of toys and play is highlighted, as well as their cultural and sacral functions in ancient Athenian society. This book reconstructs the social and behavioural world of infants and young children in ancient Greece based on a rich collection of archaeological finds from the classical period. It presents a selection of never-before-seen child artifacts which uncover groundbreaking evidence supporting new ideas on child development

198 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm

Contents:
pt.1. Approaches to childhood in ancient Attica : introduction
Developmental childhood archaeology - an interdisciplinary approach
Child perceptions in ancient Greece: literary sources and material culture
Focuses of the book: time, space, age and specific material evidence
pt. 2. The care and socialization of infants and young children
Child-parent relationships in the household - the role of the mother and father
Beyond sentiment? High child mortality and infanticide
Multiple care, alloparenting and cooperative breeding
Infant feeding in the Classical period
The high chair-potty stool and its functions
Infant swaddling - evidence and explanations
Activating the infant - the rattle and adult-child relationships
Rattling in front of an infant
The exploring toddler boy
Sibling relationships
The religious world of the child - sacral actions and socialization
pt. 3. Young children's play and toys
The functions and meanings of play - a brief history
Did young children really play in ancient Attica? - the iconographic ambiguity
Children's play in Classical Attica
Toys in Classical Attica - the evidence
Toys - objects to be used in many ways
Objects and toys - developmental perspectives
pt. 4. Conclusions and perspectives
Conclusions
Interpretative validity?
discussion and conclusion
A repeated call for interdisciplinarity

Subjects:
Antiquities
Attikē (Greece) Antiquities
Child development
Child development Greece Attikē
Children Greece Attikē Social conditions
Children Social conditions
Education, Greek
Education, Greek Greece Attikē
Enfants Développement Grèce Attique
Enfants Grèce Attique Conditions sociales
Éducation grecque Grèce Attique
Greece Attikē

Care, Socialization and Play in Ancient Attica : A Development Childhood Archaeological Approach

by: Sommer, M. Sommer, M.

• ISBN-13: 9788771242973 / 978-87-7124-297-3
• ISBN-03: 877124297X / 87-7124-297-X
• Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, 2015