Children at Roonka, South Australia: Social and Political Burials

Abstract

Reanalysis of Holocene burials from Roonka, South Australia, in collaboration with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation, demonstrates that the burial of children less than 12 years involved some of the greatest investment of time and people. While the frequency of child burials (33%, N = 216) might be read as a simple reflection of child mortality, analysis of preservation and site formation demonstrates that the burials should not be interpreted in this way. Rather the burial of children followed a different set of ideas that remained consistent over 8000 years. Single primary interments of people at all ages occurred at the site, but most non-adults are buried with an adult (74%, N = 77), predominantly male. These co-interments involve variable periods of delay before burial of the child. I argue that at Roonka the mortuary pathway is structured around reasserting the child’s relationships beyond the immediate family ensuring a safe afterlife journey. For children burial was at once political, reaffirming broader relationships, and personal, signifying sentiment. Their treatment reflects the centrality of children and their community relationships in this Aboriginal social world.