Mathilde Vestergaard Meyer

What’s the work that you do?

I am a prehistoric archaeologist who is working on the role of children and toys in early-age innovation and subsequent adaptation during climatic changes. As a case study, I have been looking at the material culture related to children from the Thule Inuit and the Norse settlers in Greenland in the beginning of the Little Ice Age. I suggest that the stringent toys of the Norse played a part in their demise, while the diverse toys of the Thule helped the children to become skillful, innovative and adaptive adults, helping them thrive through the climatic changes of the Little Ice Age.

What keeps you going?

I have a huge interest for toys and children of the past, and I love being able to add to the notion of children being important actors and contributors in society, instead of being seen as mere passive agents. I believe that children were, and still are, important to all human societies, as it is the children who reproduce society in order for us to survive as a species.

What’s your message to the world?

Children matter! They should not be seen as passive, the way some societies often tend to picture them, but instead be seen as important actors on a level with the adults of the society.