{"id":859,"date":"2024-08-20T07:03:52","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T07:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/?p=859"},"modified":"2024-08-20T19:53:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T19:53:07","slug":"the-worlds-oldest-toy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/","title":{"rendered":"The World\u2019s Oldest Toy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you do an internet search for the \u201cWorld\u2019s Oldest Toy\u201d you\u2019ll see it\u2019s a title with many contenders and a good deal of speculation. There are claims made for the 4000-year-old ceramic rattle from the Turkish site K\u00fcltepe Kani\u015f-Karum, or the even older 5000-year-old wheeled \u201ctoy car\u201d found in a child\u2019s grave nearby. Others make the case for a 4000-year-old \u201cdoll\u2019s head\u201d from the island of Pantelleria, Italy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Identifying any artifact from a single surviving example is a real challenge to archaeology, as archaeologists rely on patterns to determine the use and meaning of objects. Without patterning, an object is open to multiple interpretations: Is the object a toy, venerated figurine, ritual object, or something else? Many prefer to attribute the world\u2019s oldest toys to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harappa.com\/content\/material-culture-and-childhood-harappan-south-asia\">Indus Valley Civilization<\/a>&nbsp;of nearly 5000 years ago because there is a relative abundance of wheeled and stationary figures from sites like Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. Patterns in manufacture, use, and depositional context suggest many were indeed toys for children.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"530\" src=\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-1-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-1-2.jpg 667w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-1-2-300x238.jpg 300w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-1-2-60x48.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harappan Small Figures at the Brooklyn Museum. Image: Trish Mayo CC-by-2.0.&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The media uses headlines about the \u201cworld\u2019s oldest toy\u201d to fascinate the public, but to be honest, the idea of which toy is the oldest is of little archaeological interest. Why? There are many reasons\u2014but most importantly is that archaeologists realize that play has been going on as long as there have been children\u2014and there have always been children! The importance of play for juvenile animals is well documented, and humans are no exception. While we associate toys with play, they are hardly essential. Many kinds of imaginative play require no objects at all. And objects don\u2019t need to be specially designed or intended for play to be included in playful activities.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1179\/cip.2009.2.1.55\">Archaeologist Sally Crawford<\/a>&nbsp;argued in 2009 that any object can be a toy, because a toy is determined by how an object is used and the mindset of the user\u2014not the object itself.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1700\" src=\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-2-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-2-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-2-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-2-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-2-2048x1360.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Figure-2-60x40.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A child using a box as a toy is a great example of an object temporarily becoming a toy when a child decides to use it in their play. Image: Pickpik.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across cultures, natural objects are regularly transformed in children\u2019s play. These toys would never preserve to be recovered archaeologically, and if they did, they would bear no evidence of having been used as a toy. When you see claims being made for an object being the \u201cworld\u2019s oldest toy,\u201d realize a more likely candidate was inducted into the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.museumofplay.org\/toys\/stick\/\">National Toy Hall of Fame<\/a>&nbsp;in 2008: The stick!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"332\" src=\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/stick-Strong-Museum.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-860\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/stick-Strong-Museum.png 600w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/stick-Strong-Museum-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/stick-Strong-Museum-60x33.png 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The stick in the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play. Image: The Strong.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jane Eva Baxter<\/strong> is a Professor and Chair of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/las.depaul.edu\/academics\/anthropology\/Faculty\/Pages\/jane-baxter.aspx\">Department of Anthropology at DePaul University<\/a>. She has been a leading scholar in the archaeology of childhood for over 25 years. Her publications include\u00a0<em>The Archaeology of Childhood<\/em>, second edition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2022) and\u00a0<em>The Archaeology of American Childhood and Adolescence<\/em>\u00a0(University Press of Florida, 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is it possible to identify the oldest surviving toy? Archaeologist Jane Eva Baxter considers some of the candidates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-childish-things"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The World\u2019s Oldest Toy? - Digital Childhoods<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is it possible to identify the oldest surviving toy? Archaeologist Jane Eva Baxter comes to a surprising conclusion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World\u2019s Oldest Toy? - Digital Childhoods\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is it possible to identify the oldest surviving toy? Archaeologist Jane Eva Baxter comes to a surprising conclusion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Childhoods\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-20T07:03:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-20T19:53:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/37.92.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dgeditor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dgeditor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/\",\"name\":\"The World\u2019s Oldest Toy? - Digital Childhoods\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/37.92.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-20T07:03:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-20T19:53:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#\/schema\/person\/a47f86ab7f4d4eab5e01653df55c4806\"},\"description\":\"Is it possible to identify the oldest surviving toy? Archaeologist Jane Eva Baxter comes to a surprising conclusion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/37.92.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/37.92.jpg\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"Image: Indus Valley Culture. Body of a Toy Chariot, 3000\u20132500 B.C.E. Reddish pottery, with modern shaft and axle: 3 1\/8 x 6 1\/8 in. (8 x 15.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The World\u2019s Oldest Toy?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Childhoods\",\"description\":\"DIGITAL CHILDHOODS\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#\/schema\/person\/a47f86ab7f4d4eab5e01653df55c4806\",\"name\":\"dgeditor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b650b42ea5f6650a83dca922f5794e0bf6a8cc7c3d14b7638319c06eb35e272b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b650b42ea5f6650a83dca922f5794e0bf6a8cc7c3d14b7638319c06eb35e272b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"dgeditor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/author\/dgeditor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The World\u2019s Oldest Toy? - Digital Childhoods","description":"Is it possible to identify the oldest surviving toy? Archaeologist Jane Eva Baxter comes to a surprising conclusion.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The World\u2019s Oldest Toy? - Digital Childhoods","og_description":"Is it possible to identify the oldest surviving toy? Archaeologist Jane Eva Baxter comes to a surprising conclusion.","og_url":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/","og_site_name":"Digital Childhoods","article_published_time":"2024-08-20T07:03:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-20T19:53:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/37.92.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"dgeditor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"dgeditor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/","url":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/","name":"The World\u2019s Oldest Toy? - Digital Childhoods","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/37.92.jpg","datePublished":"2024-08-20T07:03:52+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-20T19:53:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#\/schema\/person\/a47f86ab7f4d4eab5e01653df55c4806"},"description":"Is it possible to identify the oldest surviving toy? Archaeologist Jane Eva Baxter comes to a surprising conclusion.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/37.92.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/37.92.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"caption":"Image: Indus Valley Culture. Body of a Toy Chariot, 3000\u20132500 B.C.E. Reddish pottery, with modern shaft and axle: 3 1\/8 x 6 1\/8 in. (8 x 15.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/the-worlds-oldest-toy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The World\u2019s Oldest Toy?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#website","url":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/","name":"Digital Childhoods","description":"DIGITAL CHILDHOODS","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#\/schema\/person\/a47f86ab7f4d4eab5e01653df55c4806","name":"dgeditor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b650b42ea5f6650a83dca922f5794e0bf6a8cc7c3d14b7638319c06eb35e272b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b650b42ea5f6650a83dca922f5794e0bf6a8cc7c3d14b7638319c06eb35e272b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"dgeditor"},"url":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/author\/dgeditor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcydigitalchildhoods.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}