Barba, Pablo; (2025) Children, personhood, emotion: An analysis of subadults’ funerary assemblages from Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt (3800-2867 BC). Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Social identities represent a highly understudied topic in Egyptology. This PhD thesis addresses this scarcity through the analysis of subadult (<20 years) burials from Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt (3800-2867 BC). A relational database of burials was collated, complemented with the tracing of archaeological artefacts disseminated to museum collections worldwide. Through funerary assemblages, I study the expression of age identities, personhood and emotions in children’s funerals. My research focuses on tracing changes in the funerary assemblages of subadults as they matured, studying whether the deceased’s age affected their funerary treatment. Special attention is paid to the role that material culture and funerary landscapes had in the expression of age identities, emotions and personhood. The funerary assemblages of children are contextualised within the socio-political transformations that Egyptian communities experienced through the 4th and early 3rd millennia in relation to the development of the first territorial state, to see if major changes in the engagements with the dead of children emerged. Finally, the Egyptian archaeological record permits examination of the alleged emotional detachment from the death of children in communities affected by high infant mortality. These issues are explored through selected case studies. The funerary landscape allows discussion on the variability of burial spaces for children and their correlation with personhood and age identities. Meanwhile, the frequent introduction of children in multiple burial is interpreted as an intention to create relationships of fictive kinship. Finally, a comparative study of material culture found in burials of children and adults found limited differences between both. It is proposed that other qualities of grave goods, such as size, usage, position in the grave or material, might have been employed to construct the age identity of the child, their personhood and selfhood, and the emotional reaction by the community, as explored through miniatures and bodily ornaments.

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