A team of researchers from the University of Aberdeen has developed a new framework with which to identify the often subtle signs of child abuse and neglect in antiquity.
Previous osteoarchaeological studies have tended to focus on the skeletal signs of severe physical injury but this new research focuses on more subtle injuries, and child neglect.
Published in the journal Childhood in the Past, it addresses current questions about the identification and interpretation of child abuse and neglect in archaeology.
The work has the potential to improve understanding of evidence that has previously been overlooked or is difficult to interpret, contributing to a more comprehensive picture of children's lives in the past.
The team was led by Dr Liz Ashcroft, a retired Consultant Paediatrician who also holds a doctorate in osteoarchaeology from the University of Aberdeen, and included Dr Rebecca Crozier, Director of the Human Osteoarchaeology MSc program, and Professor Marc Oxenham, a former British Academy Global Professor.
”Children matter in archaeological societies and therefore it is essential to consider how they were treated in the past,” Dr Ashcroft said.
“However, there are actually few published case studies on the topic and certainly no standardised approach to studying this often emotionally distressing topic.”
Dr Crozier added: “The issue of child abuse and neglect raises several complex and nuanced research questions, which our new approach is designed to engage with.”
“One of the largest obstacles was addressing the limitations of using ancient archaeological human remains to reconstruct the past lifestyles, health, and evidence for abusive trauma or deliberate neglect in children. “
“Modern child protection evidence shows that in individual children there is often an overlapping spectrum of trauma comprising physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse.”
The new study acknowledges that research into child abuse and neglect can also be affected by the emotional responses which are evoked by the topic, leading to the subject being denied or avoided, and to anxieties arising about mistaken diagnoses, or concerns about impugning parents or carers.
Professor Oxenham said: “This research addresses the current concerns about child abuse and neglect in archaeology, while the rigor and reproducibility of the proposed new way of examining this very complex topic will permit future researchers to describe the experiences of children who lived in antiquity and to bring their until know often unknown and unrecognised stories to life."