Journal
Childhood in the Past is the bi-annual journal produced by the Society. It provides an important forum for the publication of papers that deal with all aspects of children and childhood in the past.
The focus of the journal is children, childhood and all aspects of the representation of children in the past, and a great variety of source materials; historical, archaeological, anthropological, literary, etc, are used. The Journal fills an important gap in recognising that the study of childhood in the past is a cross-disciplinary venture, requiring communication of ideas across normal academic and chronological boundaries.
Papers from all disciplines relating to the study of childhood in the past – archaeological, anthropological, medical, historical, psychological etc, are included in the Journal.
Should you wish to submit an article to the journal, please contact the journal Editor.
Annual SSCIP membership includes paper copies of new volumes of Childhood in the Past and access to the back catalogue online.
The Journal is peer reviewed and available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ycip20
Editorial Board
Board
Book Reviews Editor
Board
Monograph Series
The Society periodically supports the publication of Monographs by SSCIP members. Previous volumes have encompassed single-authored or edited volumes in any discipline related to childhood in the past.
Should you wish to submit a book proposal for the Monograph series, please contact the Monograph series, General Editor
NEW
Normative, Atypical or Deviant? Interpreting Prehistoric and Protohistoric Child Burial Practices
by Eileen Murphy and Mélie Le Roy
Available now in print and open access from Archaeopress!
Normative, Atypical or Deviant? Interpreting Prehistoric and Protohistoric Child Burial Practices, the tenth volume in the SSCIP monograph series, explores the response of the living when dealing with the death of a child. This response is strongly connected to belief systems and concern for the fate of the deceased in the afterlife. The funerary rituals for each culture generally follow a prescribed format that will both satisfy the needs of the dead and ensure there are no negative consequences for the living. But how do we interpret burials that do not adhere to the recognised formula for their society? Can we find evidence that such differences involved positive or, indeed, negative emotions? Should atypical rites for children actually be considered normal since they are typical for their age cohort, differing only from those of adults, and perhaps simply reflect adult-centric interpretations of the past? The papers within the volume discuss these issues by focusing on juvenile burial practices in Europe and the Near East during recent prehistory and protohistory. The interpretation of normative, atypical or deviant is interrogated based on the context of the burials and the intentionality of the practice.