Gender archaeology is a method of studying ancient societies by closely examining the roles played by men and women in the past as exhibited through the archaeological record.
Gender archaeologists examine the relative positions in society of men and women through identifying and studying the differences in power and authority they held. These differences can survive in the physical record although they are not always immediately apparent and are often open to interpretation. The relationship between the genders can also inform relationships between other social groups such as families, different classes, ages and religions.
Topics include: (1) how gender biases have affected archaeological research and interpretations as well as the participation of women in the profession; (2) the relationship of gender to changes in sociopolitical organization (using the Hohokam as a case study); and (3) gender identities and their expression in the archaeological record.
Gender biases in the profession, and how they have and have not changed over time, are briefly discussed in this class (and are addressed more fully in the module on equity).
In Gender and the Archaeology of Death, edited by Bettina Arnold and Nancy L. Wicker, pp.
Archaeology prior to and even in the present has been notorious in neglecting, minimizing or ignoring the role of women within the archaeological record, and research.
In so much that archaeological science has sought to be objective, it has failed in being gender neutral; in so much that the basic questions asked by a researcher are in themselves gender biased, therefore their field work and findings are also inherently biased.
The synthesis of Old European prehistory of Gimbutas was perhaps premature to archaeology, in that she did achieve an idea of synthesis, but did not or was not able to elucidate on the finer points of context.
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