Children's games in the Punic and Roman periods through archaeological objects discovered in Algeria

Abstract

Preserved in the National Public Museum of Antiquities in Algeria, many acquisitions made of various materials, belonging to the different civilizations that came to Algeria from the ancient and Islamic periods, for the purpose of examining and studying them to know the stages of development of human life and its civilizational achievements.

When studying archaeological objects dating back to the ancient period, it turns out that they were used for a religious, ideological or funeral purpose, or were used in daily life. Among the acquisitions owned by the museum, artifacts dating back to the Punic and Roman periods caught my attention, so it seemed to me that they were a variety of children's games, which made me want to study the subject of children's games in the ancient period, relying on archaeological objects discovered in Algeria, and also to enrich this topic, I resorted to mention artifacts discovered in Rome or its provinces, and this is because there are no similar pieces in Algeria.

The topic deals with children's games in the period of primitive societies, which is represented in imitating the works of adults to prepare them for the future. The study also aims to show the interest of ancient societies in the child and the reservation of toys for him, which were made of different materials such as pottery, bronze, bone, etc., and to shed light on the various toys and games for the child in the past and their types according to age; groups and gender, some of them are directed to early childhood, or for boys and girls. The research also deals with the variety of individual or collective games practised by the child, including sports such as swimming, ball, and recreational games.