"AJUARES A LA MUERTE DE LOS NIÑOS”: Evolución de las ofrendas funerarias en las tumbas infantiles entre el Neolítico y el Calcolítico en el interior peninsular (original) (raw)

A general analysis of the grave goods accompanying children in burials from the Early Neolithic to the Bell Beaker in the Iberian Peninsula is presented. Both the presence and the absence of these objects of great symbolic value would provide some keys to understand the role that children had in those communities, and how these elements were used in the construction of their social identity trough funeral ceremonies. It would be analysed whether children received or not the same funerary treatment than adults or if it is possible to detect differences between some individuals. This particular aspect is studied from a diachronic perspective to detect both changes and disruptions, such as continuity of burials practices, and especially the accompanying grave goods. The chosen time frame includes the Neolithic and Chalcolithic, two crucial periods in which major changes occur both in the social and the economical atmosphere. It appears particularly relevant to analyze how objects placed next to these individuals in the graves were specifically selected or even fabricated to accompany them, as in the case, for example, of the Bell Beaker (ceramic miniatures). Finally, we would like to reflect on the role of children individuals in the social structure (heritage status), through a study of the burial treatment they received in different chronological phases of this period, as it is a very important sector of the society, so often absent from the explanations of the major processes of change that characterize these stages of the Prehistory.