When Small Pots Speak, The Stories They Tell: The Role ofChildren in Ceramic Innovation in Prehistoric Huron Society As Seen Through the Analysis of Juvenile Pots

Abstract

<p>The archaeology of children is a burgeoning sub-field within archaeology whose purpose is to make children visible by unearthing the child's world through the analysis of the archaeological correlates of their activities. The overarching goal of this research is to demonstrate the feasibility in conducting an archaeology of children while providing an example of how such a study can be executed. This is done through examining the role of children in ceramic innovation in prehistoric Huron society. The artefact category ofjuvenile pots is used to address this question. Traditionally juvenile pots have been subjectively classified according to small size and assumptions ofcrudity. In this study, the traditional criteria are re-evaluated and a diachronic stylistic comparison between juvenile and adult pots is conducted. The results indicate that juvenile pots are generally not as well made as the adult pots, so there is some validity to the traditional criteria, and that the forming of the vessels seems to be ofgreater importance than their decoration. Through the examination of style transmission, interactions between three generations became visible. Children were being influenced by and interacting with mothers and grandmothers in a learning environment which appears to have been sufficiently informal to allow style transmission to travel back and forth. Children then appear to have been part of the process of innovation.</p>