Au Levant méditerranéen, le nombre des vestiges osseux immatures mis au jour dans les niveaux moustériens des sites de Syrie, Iraq et Israël est important et, dans quatre sites sur huit concernés, leur fréquence dépasse même celle des adultes. L'estimation de l'âge au décès des enfants, de leur stature ou bien encore de leur sexe soulève des questions méthodologiques qui sont illustrées à l'aide de quelques exemples. Le Proche-Orient a livré, pour le Paléolithique moyen, la documentation la plus ancienne et la meilleure sur les prémices d'une archéologie funéraire s'appliquant aux enfants, même si celle-ci est loin de concerner la majorité des individus. Lorsqu'un traitement funéraire existe, une distinction, en fonction de l'âge de l'enfant ou de la population inhumante, Néanderthaliens ou hommes modernes anciens, n'est pas aisée à établir. (revue)

The subadult skeletal sample recorered from the Mousterian layers in the Mediterranean Levant is large, and comes from eight sites spread over Syria, Irak and Israel. Human remains of children are even more numerous than those of adults in some of the sites.Estimating age at death of the Middle Paloeolithic children is based upon data (e.g. dental calcification, long bone growth and body size) recorded from recent or living children. Some problems associated with inferring age of prehistoric children from modern reference standards are discussed, as comparative data on recent populations have documented the difference between real and chronological ages, as well as the variability among populations affecting indicators of chronological age. As shown by a few examples, age biases may result from the accuracy of the modern reference scales employed.As a result, estimates of age and sex from subadults remain a crucial point for palaeodemographic reconstruction in the Middle Palecolithic time period. But this cannot also be neglected in the interpretation of mortuary pratices. The early and well documented evidence of mortuary pratices devoted to immature individuals is coming from the Levant (e.g. Skhul, Qazfeh, Amad and Dederiyeh sites). However, no differences in mortuary treatment with regard to, either the age at death of the children, or to the taxonomic affiliation of the individuals (ie. Neanderthals and early anatomically modern humans), can be accurately established from the available archaeological record.