Too small to be noticed? Children mummies reveal they stories

Abstract

The study of sub-adult remains, either skeletal or mummified, has been always a fairly neglected subject of bioarchaeology. Regarding mummified subadult remains, it mainly seems that fascinating stories (i.e., mountain sacrifice mummies) are usually discussed in detail. However, whilst childhood is a biological stage of human development, it is also a social construct and many past and present societies assign different values and meanings (i.e., cultural beliefs, social tensions) to the dead child. This presentation addresses the biocultural context of children mummies based on a meticulous survey of up-dated published reports. In addition, paleopathological observations are discussed, as well as the future need for systematic studies of subadult mummies (i.e., mortality patterns, maternal mortality).