I think @brokenwords ’ point is quite valid here- the evidence shown here isn’t actually evidence of children making tools. It’s evidence of kids being around, and of inexperienced people making tools, but that’s all. The rest is still a leap. It’s of course a very reasonable assumption that they were making tools, because of course kids have always done everything we do. But there may never be concrete proof of it, short of finding a hammer stone next to a child’s hand fossil or something.
Something being extremely reasonable and likely is not the same as proof and we mustn’t let our standards of evidence grow lax in science.
On my French Canadian side, women were married and producing children by 16, working with their husbands on their farms. That’s much more the norm throughout most of human history.
Any evidence at all would suffice. But I am not denying the possibility, and in fact I am quite fond of the thought that they actual did. @VeronicaConnor put it quite well, I think. One more point to add… I have respect for, as well as am fascinated and inspired by, the work of archeologists. Sometimes they do say goofy things, however…
Buncha dirt-diggers, making up theories about things they find in the backyard, cause they can’t read.
Funny story, though: I was talking to an archaeologist-colleague today, and she was excitedly telling me about finding clay pipes in and amongst children’s toys and marbles at a South Carolina dig. Our research areas overlap. She and her colleagues were excited because it helps their theory that the kids used them to blow bubbles. More work needed, of course. I said “you know that they write about this in their documents, right? They describe children doing this. Commonly.” She looked crestfallen. “Really?”
Of course the number of times I’ve talked about a snippet from a document I found, only to have her say “um, we’ve known about that for a long time, it’s all over the archaeological record.”
Ha! But if I have a choice between digging for artifacts or reading about 'em I’d rather grab a shovel in an instant.
(They grew hemp in SC so there are alternate bubble theories…)
