These items are to be found in the children’s section of the museum, although they are obviously from different time periods. It is likely that the footwear dates from around the time of the apocalypse, when millions of people attempted to flee urban areas, while the doll is around 150 years later.

The ashwalkers are hastily constructed footwear to assist in hiking long distances over hot ground. They are meant to fit over shoes or boots. The size is appropriate for a child of about three years, and do not seem to have been much used – it may be that the caregiver carried the child, or that some form of transport was found. There are other, less pleasant possibilities.

As anyone who has tried to carry a stressed three year old for any distance knows, they are a cumbersome, surprisingly heavy bundle. As part of a loud crowd moving quickly, young children would have picked up on the stress around them and become afraid, so ‘special shoes’ might have distracted them and alleviated their terror to some degree.

The pre-apocalyptic writer Steven Kirsch wrote of the psychology of raising children in dangerous times, citing “...impoverished conditions, violent surroundings and parenting under conditions of extreme physical and emotional duress,” (Kirsch, 2019, p4).

In the immediate aftermath, would a new social cohension have brought adults together regardless of genetics, or would fear of ‘other’ have caused smaller family groups to go their own way? From what we know so far of the period of First Survival (years PA 0 – 25) both tactics were used, with evidence of larger groups found further away from the cities.

Kirsch wrote of children that “The key to their survival--and thus the survival of the species--will be the caregiving they receive,” (Kirsch, 2019, p1). The second artifact, a doll, suggests that its owner received thoughtful and caring attention. The doll has been dated at around PA 150, as it depicts some of the evolutionary changes experienced at that time. The legs are elongated and the skin has a greenish tone, while the eyes are slightly slanted and fully black, showing no sclera or iris. The clothing is militaristic and weather appropriate for the most part, although the pink skirt and tiny ashwalkers suggest this was made for a younger child.

 

Factual information from Kirsch, S. (2019) Parenting in the Zombie Apocalypse: The Psychology of Raising Children in a Time of Horror. Jefferson: McFarland & Co. Inc.