Carrie Ann Woollard

Research

Title: Exploring Prehistoric Experiences of Child-loss and Grief: Navigating Infant Mortality in Iron Age Britain

Supervisor: Dr Lindsey Büster

Summary of research project: The study of children in archaeology has flourished in time periods where primary texts provide insight into everyday lives of children. In prehistory however, children have been traditionally overlooked and underrepresented, which is a huge oversight considering how important age relations are as a structuring principle in many societies. Building on emerging research into an archaeology of emotion, prehistoric attitudes of motherhood and the social importance of children, this research explores the mortuary record of non-adults in Iron Age Britain, in order to understand the lived experiences of prehistoric child loss. The impact of this research is to elevate the visibility of children in prehistoric archaeology; to contribute to developing research into an ‘emotional archaeology’ and, to provide a deep time perspective on grief and bereavement surrounding child-loss to help advocate for those navigating similar experiences today.

Profile

In 2022 I received a BA (hons) in archaeology from Canterbury Christchurch University, with a dissertation focusing on blunt force trauma in pigs from Ancient Egyptian Nubia. I then went on to complete my Masters in Bioarchaeology at Bournemouth University, with a special interest in child skeletal remains and the limitations in osteological research and analysis. My passion for archaeology and the joy I take in research led me to go straight into my PhD on child-loss and grief in Iron Age Britain. I have particular interest in the importance we place on our ancestors and the need we feel to continue our emotional bonds with the dead. Not to mention, the historic attitudes to child-loss and the continued theme of disenfranchised grief in association with it, has always been a keen interest of mine.

My academic research interests include

• Archaeology of Childhood
• Prehistory
• Osteology
• Funerary Archaeology

My current project focuses on understanding the lived experiences of child-loss and grief in Iron Age Britain through the analysis of the funerary record of children.

Teaching

Undergraduate teaching

• 2025: Assisted in skeletal lab sessions at Canterbury Christ Church.
• 2025: Taught students from Texas State University on how to clean historic skeletal assemblages and taught them age, sex and pathological analysis methodologies (CCCU).

Other teaching

• 2023: Assisted in lab sessions for both forensic students and anthropology students.

Invited talks and conferences

Invited talks and conferences

• 2024 CARN Presentation (Canterbury Archaeological Research Network): ‘Exploring Prehistoric Experiences of Child-loss and Grief: Navigating Infant Mortality in Iron Age Britain’.
• 2024 Annual School of Nursery Research Conference: Poster presented on ‘Exploring Prehistoric Experiences of Child-loss and Grief’ Primary focus was the impact of emotional topics in archaeology on modern audiences.
• 2025: Canterbury Medieval and Early-Modern Research Society: ‘Relationships Between the Archaeology of Childhood and Bodily Boundaries’.