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In the past I’ve made the argument that a study of the toys that a people makes for its children give us an insight into that people’s cultural direction. Toys are a very interesting bit of material culture which are often overlooked as objects of study in anthropological and cultural research. They give us insight not only into what a culture and people are, but also what they hope to become in the future, because toys are the material cultural artefacts which a people produces for its children, and as such are training and development tools for what a child ought to become in the future. We therefore make baby-like dolls and tea sets for young girls, and toy guns, trucks and building blocks for young boys.

But there’s an even more important category of cultural artefacts...