Our team is committed to interdisciplinary cross-cultural research on the lives of children in foraging & mixed-subsistence societies.
If you are interested in participating in one of our research projects, or are looking for support for your own research project, contact us at foragerchildstudies@gmail.com
Current Research Projects
(1) Children’s work and play: In a cross-cultural analysis made up of secondary data, this project seeks to explore how ecological and cultural factors influence children’s participation in play and work activities across the lifespan.
(2) Forager children’s experience in school: Using eHRAF and existing literature, we are collaborating with HG-EDU to investigate forager children’s experiences in schools.
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(3) Children's use of tools: Funded by grants from Aarhus University (PI-Felix Riede), this project uses eHRAF and museum collections to examine how children use tools in play and work.
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(4) Children's foraging returns: Using a systematic protocol, this project examines cross-cultural variation and regularity in children's reported foraging returns.
Published Research
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Pretelli, I., Ringen, E.J., Lew-Levy, S. (Under Review). Foraging complexity and the evolution of childhood. Science Advances. Preprint
Riede, F., Lew-Levy, S., Johannsen, N.N., Lavi, N., Andersen, M.M. (Under Review). Toys as teachers: A cross-cultural analysis of object play and enskillment in hunter-gatherer societies. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.
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Ninkova, V., Hays, J., Lavi, N., Ali, A., Lopes da Silva Macedo, S., Davis, H.E., Lew-Levy, S. (Under review). Hunter-gatherer children at school: A view from the Global South. Reviews in Educational Research. Preprint
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Lew-Levy, S., Andersen, M.M., Lavi, N., Riede, F. Hunter-gatherer children’s object play and tool use: An ethnohistorical analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 13: 824983. Link
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Lew-Levy, S., Reckin, R., Kissler, S.M., Pretelli, I., Boyette, A.H., Crittenden, A.N., Hagen, R., Haas, R., Kramer, K.L., Koster, J., O’Brien, M., Sonoda, K., Surovell, T.A., Tucker, B., Lavi, N., Ellis-Davies, K., Davis, H.E. (2022). Socioecology shapes child and adolescent time allocation in twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence forager societies. Scientific Reports, 12: 0854. Link
Milks, A., Lew-Levy, S., Lavi, N., Friesem, D.E., Reckin, R. (2021). Hunter-gatherer children in the past: An archaeological review. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 64: 101369. Link Open Access
Reckin, R., Lew-Levy, S., Lavi, N., Ellis-Davies, K. (2020). Mobility, autonomy and learning: Could the transition from egalitarian to non-egalitarian social structures start with children? In Social Inequality Before Farming: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Investigation of Egalitarian and Non-Egalitarian Social Relationships in Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Societies (peer reviewed). Ed: L. Moreau. Cambridge: MacDonald Institute Monograph Series. Link
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Lew-Levy, S., Milks, A., Lavi, N., Pope, S.M., Friesem, D.E. (2020). Where innovations flourish: An ethnographic and archaeological overview of hunter-gatherer learning contexts. Evolutionary Human Sciences. Link
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Lew-Levy, S., Lavi, N., Reckin, R., Cristobal-Azkarate, J., Ellis-Davies, K. (2018). How do hunter-gatherer children learn social and gender norms? A meta-ethnographic review. Cross-Cultural Research. Link
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Lew-Levy, S., Reckin, R., Lavi, N., Cristobal-Azkarate, J., Ellis-Davies, K. (2017). How do hunter-gatherer children learn subsistence skills? A meta-ethnographic review. Human Nature. Link
Visualization: A bibliometric analysis of FCS scholars' research, created by Erik Ringen.