Child Burials in Mesolithic and Neolithic Southern Greece: A Synthesis

Abstract The treatment of children during the Mesolithic and Neolithic in southern Greece can provide us with a rare insight of age differentiations, social practices and beliefs in these early periods. The diachronic presentation and analysis of this particular group of burials will provide a better understanding of the social and conceptual changes the role of children had in these communities. Their comparison to the adult treatments provides a template on which regional and sometimes local beliefs and practices can be viewed. At the same time broader socio-economic changes can be detected, emphasising or de-emphasising symbolically the social role and importance of children and infants in the local communities.