Life and Death During Childhood in Late Holocene Hunter-Gatherers from the Lower Paraná Wetlands (Argentina)

Abstract

This study investigates the material and social dimensions of childhood among Late Holocene hunter-gatherers in the lower Paraná wetlands (Argentina). Drawing on archaeological, bioanthropological, and ethnographic evidence, it explores children’s participation in daily subsistence activities and their mortuary treatment. The abundance of stable, predictable, and low-risk resources likely enabled children to contribute meaningfully to tasks such as fishing, small-game hunting, mollusc gathering, and plant collection. The settlement pattern, centred on long-term camps, may have facilitated their involvement by promoting deep knowledge of the surrounding environments. Mortuary practices show two distinct age-related patterns: children under six were typically buried in primary graves alongside adults, suggesting shared ritual significance, while individuals aged 10–20 years were more often placed in secondary burials. These patterns reflect nuanced social categorisations of non-adults and underscore the importance of integrating multiple lines of evidence to reconstruct childhood experiences and roles within pre-Columbian societies of the region.