Care in the past : archaeological and interdisciplinary perspectives / edited by Lindsay Powell, William Southwell-Wright, and Rebecca Gowland.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Powell, Lindsay (Lindsey Anne), editor.

Southwell-Wright, William, editor.

Gowland, Rebecca, editor.

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social archaeology.

Archaeology and history.

Caregivers--History.

Caregivers.

Caring--Social aspects--History.

Caring.

Child care--History.

Child care.

Older people--Care--History.

Older people.

People with disabilities--Care--History.

People with disabilities.

Animal welfare--History.

Animal welfare.

History.

People with disabilities--Care.

Older people--Care.

Social aspects.

Physical Description:

xviii, 220 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; Philadelphia : Oxbow Books, 2017.

Summary:

"Care-giving is an activity that has been practiced by all human societies. From the earliest societies through to the present, all humans have faced choices regarding how people in positions of dependency are to be treated. As such, care-giving, and the form it takes, is a central experience of being a human and one that is culturally mediated. Archaeology has tended to marginalise the study of care, and debates surrounding our ability to recognise it within the archaeological record have often remained implicit rather than a focus of discussion. These 12 papers examine the topic of care in past societies and specifically how we might recognise the provision of care in archaeological contexts and to open up an inter-disciplinary conversation, including historical, bioarchaeological, faunal and philosophical perspectives. The topic of 'care' is examined through three different strands: the provision of care throughout the life course, namely that provided to the youngest and oldest members of a society; care-giving and attitudes towards impairment and disability in prehistoric and historic contexts, and the role of animals as both recipients of care and as tools for its provision"--Publisher description.

Contents:

Foundations and approaches to the study of care in the past / William Southwell-Wright, Rebecca Gowland, and Lindsay Powell

Section 1. Care and the life course

Childcare in the past : the contribution of palaeopathology / Mary Lewis

The "terrible tyranny of the majority" : recognising population variability and individual agency in past infant feeding practices / Ellen Kendall

Precious things : examining the status and care of children in late medieval England through the analysis of cultural and biological markers / Heidi Dawson

"That tattered coat upon a stick the ageing body" : evidence for elder marginalisation and abuse in Roman Britain / Rebecca L. Gowland

Section 2. Care impairment and disability

The Palaeolithic compassion debate : alternative projections of modern-day disability into the distant past / Nick Thorpe

Setting the scene for an evolutionary approach to care in prehistory : a historical and philosophical journey / David Doat

"A long waiting for death" : dependency and the care of the disabled in a nineteenth century asylum / Shawn Phillips

Prayers and poultices : medieval health care at the Isle of May, Scotland, c. 430-1580 AD / Marlo Willows

Section 3. Care and non-human animals

Towards a zooarchaeology of animal "care" / Richard Thomas

Rare secrets of physicke : insect medicaments in historical Western society / Gary King

Concluding thoughts and future directions / Rebecca Gowland, Lindsay Powell, and William Southwell-Wright.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Care in the past

ISBN:

9781785703355

1785703358

OCLC:

966742718

Publisher Number:

99972578438