Violence against children is not exclusively a modern phenomenon. It also accompanied humans in the past, as evidenced by both written sources and archaeological discoveries. Although its existence is beyond doubt, it is much more difficult to determine the scale of violence against children in ancient societies. This arises not only from the fragmentary nature of the source material, but also from the difficulties associated with identifying cases of violence in archaeological material. Sometimes, however, skeletons retain traces of trauma which suggest that the child may have been a victim. This was likely the case with a child buried at Tell Brak in what is now Syria. Its remains became the subject of an analysis by researchers from the University of Warsaw and Durham University, recently published in the “International Journal of Osteoarchaeology”.
Continue reading “Children should be seen and not heard? On violence against children in Tell Brak”
