GROW UP · Getting Ready for AdulthOod: Work, Upbringing and Play in the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean

Getting Ready for Adulthood: Work, Upbringing and Play in the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean (GROW UP) offers the first systematic comparative study of childhood socialisation in Phoenician and Punic societies from the 9th to the 2nd centuries BCE. Based at the Institute of Heritage Science of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-ISPC), the project explores how children were prepared for adult life in contexts of migration, cultural encounters, and social reproduction in one of antiquity’s most dynamic regions. By treating children as active participants in community life, it examines how work, upbringing, and play shaped skill acquisition, embodied practices, and social identities structured by gender, age, class, and ethnicity. The methodology combines archaeology, iconography, textual sources, digital humanities, and anthropology within an interdisciplinary framework. Techniques such as fingerprint analysis, 3D modelling, acoustic simulation, and experimental archaeology are applied to artefacts including toys, tools, miniatures, and child-made ceramics. This approach allows reconstruction of learning strategies, spaces of interaction, and cultural transmission otherwise invisible in the archaeological record. Comparative perspectives from the Mediterranean and Near East situate Phoenician-Punic practices within broader debates on education, intergenerational relations, and cultural diversity. Beyond research, GROW UP promotes knowledge transfer through a placement at ""Explora. Il Museo dei Bambini di Roma"", translating findings into interactive and inclusive educational experiences. The project enhances the researcher’s expertise in science communication and museography while maximising social impact. Overall, GROW UP foregrounds childhood in historical inquiry, offering new insights into cultural transmission and advancing European priorities in cultural heritage, digital innovation, and public engagement.""