Archaeological analyses of child funerary remains have often revolved around discussions of ascribed status and demographic trends. Other social and spatial dimensions of child burial are often left unexplored. This article introduces a novel perspective, through the analysis of child burials in Predynastic Egypt. My analysis focuses on the changing rates and spatial distribution of child burials in community necropoleis, with special attention to how their placement was used to renegotiate power relationships, and perhaps even concepts of personhood, in Predynastic society. The importance of children's funerals for creating of a sense of community through attachment to place is also considered. Criticizing analyses that rely on quantitative data to the exclusion of other factors, I emphasize the contribution of childhood, practice theory, emotions and personhood for the study of social complexity. My arguments point towards significant changes in the emotional dimension of children's funerary practices experienced during the later fourth millennium bc, and links these transformations to processes of state formation in Egypt.

中文翻译：

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埃及前王朝时期儿童埋葬的权力、人格和情感参与的变化

对儿童丧葬遗骸的考古分析通常围绕着对归属地位和人口趋势的讨论展开。儿童埋葬的其他社会和空间维度往往未被探索。本文通过对前王朝时期埃及儿童墓葬的分析，介绍了一个新颖的视角。我的分析侧重于社区墓地中儿童墓葬的变化率和空间分布，特别关注他们的位置如何被用来重新协商权力关系，甚至可能是人格概念，在前王朝社会。还考虑了儿童葬礼对于通过对地方的依恋来创造社区感的重要性。批评依赖定量数据而排除其他因素的分析，我强调童年、实践理论、用于研究社会复杂性的情感和人格。我的论点指向在第四个千年后期经历的儿童丧葬实践的情感维度的重大变化公元前，并将这些转变与埃及的国家形成过程联系起来。