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Discovering Childhood: Using Fingerprints to Find Children in the Archaeological Record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kathryn A. Kamp ,
Nichole Timmerman ,
Gregg Lind ,
Jules Graybill  and
Ian Natowsky
Kathryn A. Kamp
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112-0806
Nichole Timmerman
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112-0806
Gregg Lind
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112-0806
Jules Graybill
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112-0806
Ian Natowsky
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112-0806
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Abstract

Experimental replications show that ridge breadth measurements from fingerprints on archaeological artifacts can be used to estimate the age of the individual who produced the prints. While the greatest amount of variability in human ridge breadth is due to the growth during development from birth to adulthood, there is also variability due to hand and body size, sex, and ethnicity. Despite these confounding variables, the variability due to age is great enough to allow the separation of children’s prints from those of adults using ridge breadths. The utility of this measurement is illustrated with a short case study using ceramic vessels and figurines from northern Arizona. This discovery has great potential for illuminating some of the roles that children played in prehistory.

Résumé

Résumé

Réplicas experimentales muestran que las medidas de los cordoncillos de huellas digitales en los restos arqueológicos sirven para estimar la edad del individuo que produjo las huellas. Mientras que la variación más amplia en los espacios de cordoncillos se deben al crecimiento durante el desarrollo entre el nacimiento y la edad adulta, hay variación también debida al tamaño de la mano y el cuerpo, al sexo, y a la etnicidad. A despecho de estas variaciones confusas, la variación por causa de la edad es tanta que se puede distinguir las huellas digitales de niños de las de adultos. La utilidad de la medida es ilustrada con una breve investigación usando vasos y estatuillas cerámicos del norte de Arizona. Este descubrimiento tiene potencial enorme para iluminar algunos de los roles que los niños tuvieron en la prehistoria.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 309 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1999

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