Cultural conflict and the impact on non-adults at Puruchuco-Huaquerones in Peru: The case for refinement of the methods used to analyze violence against children in the archeological record

Gaither, Catherine

doi:10.1016/j.ijpp.2012.09.010

Cited by 25 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Child abuse is one of the most challenging areas for the study of violence in the past. Gaither () offers an explanation for why studying child abuse in the past is problematic, “… past populations may have considered what is called physical child abuse (in the modern medicolegal context) normal, and even beneficial—a “spare the rod, spoil the child approach,” researchers are reluctant to more closely examine this type of physical violence given that cultural views on the subject are often difficult to establish.” Child abuse, more commonly referred to as child maltreatment today, involves the neglect and harm of children by adults responsible for their caretaking. In our society, this would typically be the mother and the father but perhaps in the past this included many other people in the society (O'Connell et al, ; Hrdy, ).…”

Section: Intragroup Violence: Domestic and Community Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioarchaeological contributions to the study of violence

Martin

Harrod

2014

American J Phys Anthropol

145

100

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The bioarchaeological record has an abundance of scientific evidence based on skeletal indicators of trauma to argue for a long history of internal and external group conflict. However, the findings also suggest variability, nuance, and unevenness in the type, use, and meaning of violence across time and space and therefore defy generalizations or easy quantification. Documenting violence-related behaviors provides an overview of the often unique and sometimes patterned cultural use of violence. Violence (lethal and nonlethal) is often associated with social spheres of influence and power connected to daily life such as subsistence intensification, specialization, competition for scarce resources, climate, population density, territorial protection and presence of immigrants, to name just a few. By using fine-grained biocultural analyses that interrogate trauma data in particular places at particular times in reconstructed archaeological contexts, a more comprehensive view into the histories and experiences of violence emerges. Moreover, identifying culturally specific patterns related to age, sex, and social status provide an increasingly complex picture of early small-scale groups. Some forms of ritual violence also have restorative and regenerative aspects that strengthen community identity. Bioarchaeological data can shed light on the ways that violence becomes part of a given cultural landscape. Viewed in a biocultural context, evidence of osteological trauma provides rich insights into social relationships and the many ways that violence is embedded within those relation- This review provides a broad perspective on violence from studies looking at human skeletal remains (e.g., bioarchaeology, paleopathology, and forensic anthropology). Violence is a phenomenon that is found in varying expressions in all cultures stretching back to the Paleolithic (Bocquentin and Bar-Yosef, 2004;Estabrook and Frayer, 2014) and possibly farther (Ant on, 2003;Kimbel and Delezene, 2009). Having worked in the area of ancient violence for a number of years we approached this review as a way to offer new frameworks for thinking about violence in the past from the perspective of biological or physical anthropology, which like all other fields of study in anthropology, is scientific, comparative, and cross-cultural in approach.Many researchers use a variety of terms interchangeably such as violence, conflict, and aggression. Our own personal preference is to avoid using the term aggression for humans because it is often used in animal studies and does not imply a connection to culture or to meaning. This is an important distinction because aggression does not always translate into violent behavior. Definitions of violence often imply intentionality, motivation, and culturally defined meaning. What is considered violence in one culture may not be in others. Violence is often socially sanctioned and organized but aggression need not be. Violence can be individual or collective but aggression more often is analyzed at the indi...

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Section: Intragroup Violence: Domestic and Community Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioarchaeological contributions to the study of violence

Martin

Harrod

2014

American J Phys Anthropol

145

100

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“…Yet the position, type, and even size of the lesions of the skull (Bilo et al, ; Cramer & Green, ) bolsters the idea that many were the result of extreme violence. However, the age that they begin to become widespread (basically from 5 to 6 years), and the fact that no other trauma were identified among the known cases with the postcranial skeletons (Acusa and Maspalomas; Figure ), complicates categorising these aggressions as child abuse, at least, and always following the caution required in these cases, according to current forensic medicine child abuse criteria (Gaither, ). The fact that they are found among several age groups, with an equivalent proportion among adults, suggests a scenario of far‐reaching physical violence in a society that is not specifically directed toward non‐adults at specific moments of their existence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The data available for Gran Canaria show a global scenario marked by frequent situations that would endanger the fragile balance between the size of the population and the amount of available resources, resulting in a widespread state of stress. Different studies suggest that populations subject to social, political, environmental, or economic pressures experience an increase in violence, including that perpetrated against subadults (Gaither, 2012;Lewis, 2007;Timmins et al, 2017;Tung, Miller, De Santis, Sharp, & Kelly, 2016 , 1999). Therefore, if we add the interpersonal competition of political and social order to the conditions described above, it becomes simpler to explain a model of widespread physical violence extending to large sectors of the population, including subadults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Violence targeting children or violent society? Craniofacial injuries among the pre‐Hispanic subadult population of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)

Velasco‐Vázquez

Delgado-Darias²,

Barroso

2018

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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The approach to Gran Canaria's pre‐Hispanic period has traditionally been dominated by a romantic and propitious view of its indigenous populations advocating a historical evolution on the margin of the conflicts and contradictions common to any society. Yet new data indicate that the ancient Canarians were subject to high rates of internal violence linked to the island's isolation and harsh biogeographical conditions, as well as marked personal differences and a strong hierarchization of the social order. However, the effects of such a degree of violence among the subadult population remain unknown. The study of the assemblage of the victims, particularly the younger members of society, requires a global analysis of the historical conditions to determine whether this violence was exceptional or habitual. The findings of this study point to a prevalence of trauma among subadults (surpassing 20%), thus bolstering the notion of a society with widespread physical violence affecting the whole population or at least that above the age of 5 or 6 years. The data also suggest widespread violence within the framework of interpersonal relationships rather than violence directed specifically against the population's younger sector.

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“…Interpretive models of childhood trauma have also been attempted. Gaither (2012) undertook a study of the levels of childhood trauma in a Peruvian population that spanned the periods before and after the Spanish conquest. Violence was sub-divided into three categories -'Violence associated with Extreme Cultural Conflict', 'Culturally Sanctioned Ritual Violence' and 'Likely Caregiver-Induced Violence' and it was proposed the stresses of the conquest may have resulted in an increase in this last type.…”

Section: The Palaeopathology Of Childhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Bioarchaeology: Perspectives on the Past 10 Years

Mays

Gowland

Halcrow

et al. 2017

Childhood in the Past

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The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. This article aims to provide an overview of some of the more important developments in the bioarchaeology of childhood over the past decade. Analysis of publication trends in the major osteoarchaeology and physical anthropology journals demonstrated a rise in research papers dealing with skeletal remains of children, with dietary and palaeopathological studies especially predominant. Innovations in these areas are discussed in more detail, together with some important developments in theoretical frameworks for using skeletal evidence to situate children in past societies. Among these latter is the life course approach, in which childhood is considered within the context of the trajectory of the entire life course. The integration of studies of child skeletal remains with those of adults helps to provide a more complete picture of communities in the past.

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Cultural conflict and the impact on non-adults at Puruchuco-Huaquerones in Peru: The case for refinement of the methods used to analyze violence against children in the archeological record

Cited by 25 publications

References 25 publications

Bioarchaeological contributions to the study of violence

Bioarchaeological contributions to the study of violence

Violence targeting children or violent society? Craniofacial injuries among the pre‐Hispanic subadult population of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)

Child Bioarchaeology: Perspectives on the Past 10 Years

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