Cradled by architecture: infancy and delayed personhood in Neolithic Anatolia and the Balkans

Children, especially infants, are integral to human communities, but how they are perceived varies across societies. This study examines infancy at the late seventh millennium Neolithic sites of Barcın Höyük and Lepenski Vir through the concept of delayed personhood, namely the belief that young children were partially or not yet recognized as persons. Both sites provide extensive data on burial locations, including age, sex, and biological relatedness. Infant burials show a strong spatial association with architectural structures, suggesting a distinct funerary practice from adults. While infant burial associated with houses may imply a link to homes, the evidence from both sites suggests burial according to age rather than genetic proximity. Therefore, our study suggests that delayed personhood was expressed after death through the cradling of infants by architecture, indicating that infants could have been community members, and that kin-making may have extended to ‘not-yet-fully human’ beings during the Neolithic.