Introduction

The Anthropology of Childhood by David Landsey is published by Simon & Schuster. The book looks at childhood in humans versus in other mammals, as far as we can call something, childhood. In the North Bismarck Sea, accompanied by our children, my experience was quite similar to hers. Pragmatic advice is mixed with appeals to the supernatural. A Mandinka mother needs to purchase from a shaman, antelope horns, filled with medicine, to wear around her waist, to guard her feet during pregnancy. After the birth, it is customary to provide the child with amts of various grains of sand or earth from the birthplace - all of which are later packed and sealed in leather