In the vast anthropological literature devoted to hunter-gatherer societies, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the place of hunter-gatherer children. Children often represent 40 percent of hunter-gatherer populations, thus nearly half the population is omitted from most hunter-gatherer ethnographies and research. This volume is designed to bridge the gap in our understanding of the daily lives, knowledge, and development of hunter-gatherer children.
The twenty-six contributors to Hunter-Gatherer Childhoods use three general but complementary theoretical approaches--evolutionary, developmental, cultural--in their presentations of new and insightful ethnographic data. For instance, the authors employ these theoretical orientations to provide the first systematic studies of hunter-gatherer children's hunting, play, infant care by children, weaning and expressions of grief. The chapters focus on understanding the daily life experiences of children, and their views and feelings about their lives and cultural change. Chapters address some of the following questions: why does childhood exist, who cares for hunter-gatherer children, what are the characteristic features of hunter-gatherer children's development and what are the impacts of culture change on hunter-gatherer child care? The book is divided into five parts. The first section provides historical, theoretical and conceptual framework for the volume; the second section examines data to test competing hypotheses regarding why childhood is particularly long in humans; the third section expands on the second section by looking at who cares for hunter-gatherer children; the fourth section explores several developmental issues such as weaning, play and loss of loved ones; and, the final section examines the impact of sedentism and schools on hunter-gatherer children.
This pioneering volume will help to stimulate further research and scholarship on hunter-gatherer childhoods, thereby advancing our understanding of the way of life that characterized most of human history and of the processes that may have shaped both human development and human evolution.
Barry S. Hewlett is professor of anthropology at Washington State University, Vancouver. Michael E. Lamb is professor of psychology in the social sciences, Cambridge University.
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“a rare and welcomed read which enables a wide window into this research current as a whole.”
–Esben Leifsen, Reviews in Anthropology
".....The highly polished result contains much of interest to anyone interested in hunter-gatherer lifeways, the anthropology of children, and the evolution of human life history." ---Journal of Anthropological Research
".....The highly polished result contains much of interest to anyone interested in hunter-gatherer lifeways, the anthropology of children, and the evolution of human life history." ---Journal of Anthropological Research
About the Author
Barry S. Hewlett is professor of anthropology at Washington State University. His current research interests include the cultural contexts of various tropical diseases, the impact of new African tropical forest parks and reserves on the local people, and cultural transmission and biocultural evolution. He is the author of Intimate Fathers: The Nature and Context of Aka Pygmy Paternal Infant Care and co-editor of Hunter-Gatherer Childhoods.
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I searched for something like this book after reading the articles of Bruce Perry, a physician who has dedicated his career to the study of the affect of abuse and neglect on neurological organization and development in infants and children, and hearing him present at a scientific conference. Most recently, Dr. Perry has maintained that our contemporary developmental environment is social impoverished when compared to the environment in which we have developed as a species. This has a deleterious effect on social development in children, adolescents, and ultimately in adults; leading to many of the problems of behavior and interaction we experience in school and in our society in general. I reasoned that if he were correct, then we should see very different patterns of parenting in non technological societies, patterns that more closely approximate what Dr. Perry would consider a social appropriate developmental environment.
I was overjoyed to find this book which is a well developed and carefully constructed series of studies on gathering/hunting peoples and their child rearing practices. The authors and editors are careful not to include cultures that are not truly gathering/hunting societies but rather agrarian. This gives a much clearer and more consistent overview of the matter. The differences between the practices in these societies and our own are clear and point to the validity of what Dr. Perry contends.
Although the work was not designed for popular reading, it is not overly technical and the authors, like most good scientists, express themselves in clear and transparent language. I would strongly recommend this work to anyone concerned with child development whether that interest in professional, clinical or personal.
I was overjoyed to find this book which is a well developed and carefully constructed series of studies on gathering/hunting peoples and their child rearing practices. The authors and editors are careful not to include cultures that are not truly gathering/hunting societies but rather agrarian. This gives a much clearer and more consistent overview of the matter. The differences between the practices in these societies and our own are clear and point to the validity of what Dr. Perry contends.
Although the work was not designed for popular reading, it is not overly technical and the authors, like most good scientists, express themselves in clear and transparent language. I would strongly recommend this work to anyone concerned with child development whether that interest in professional, clinical or personal.
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