CHILDREN OF THE PAST

Children of the present have more in common than they may think with those who lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

Archaeologist Huey pieces together clues from sites in North America and Western Europe to reveal how children's lives were different and similar in five different eras. She examines finds from Western Europe in 18,000 B.C.E.; hunter-gatherers in Europe in 6,000 B.C.E.; Iroquois in North America in 1,000 C.E.; the Jamestown, Virginia, colony of the early 1600s; and free African-Americans in Fort Mose, Florida, of the mid-1700s. The artifacts Huey presents to readers include handprints and footprints, carvings, clothes, tools, and toys. They offer insight into what life was like for children in these different times and what children of all times have shared, such as family chores, playing with friends and siblings, and the drives to create and to explore the world around them. The text and accompanying color photographs also offer good insight into the work of archaeologists, such as excavating and preserving artifacts, radiocarbon dating, and methods of piecing together clues to reconstruct the past.

Though limited in its Western-world perspective, this is an engaging, possibly revelatory look at childhoods of the past and the work of archaeologists.