Abstract
This chapter provides a critical overview of archaeological
approaches to gender and social inequality, and suggests
future perspectives and approaches. We argue that
considering gender as a central framework through which
to analyse past social inequality is long overdue in archaeology.
Surprisingly, even under Processualism, which
focused on the origins and development of social inequality,
the issues of gender inequality were rarely raised.
Today, in spite of the fact that feminist and gender perspectives
have repeatedly demonstrated the significance
of gender for the construction of social differences and
identities in the past, we identify a continuation of earlier
approaches. Much work remains to be done by archaeologists,
both addressing gender inequality and placing it
within the social context of change in different periods.
We identify positive steps in this direction, and propose
that multi-proxy approaches are a promising way to
address these complex questions and bring social inequality
into focus.
approaches to gender and social inequality, and suggests
future perspectives and approaches. We argue that
considering gender as a central framework through which
to analyse past social inequality is long overdue in archaeology.
Surprisingly, even under Processualism, which
focused on the origins and development of social inequality,
the issues of gender inequality were rarely raised.
Today, in spite of the fact that feminist and gender perspectives
have repeatedly demonstrated the significance
of gender for the construction of social differences and
identities in the past, we identify a continuation of earlier
approaches. Much work remains to be done by archaeologists,
both addressing gender inequality and placing it
within the social context of change in different periods.
We identify positive steps in this direction, and propose
that multi-proxy approaches are a promising way to
address these complex questions and bring social inequality
into focus.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Gender trouble and current archaeological debates |
| Editors | Uros Matic, Bisserka Gaydarska, Laura Coltofean, Marta Diaz-Guardamino |
| Place of Publication | Cham, Switzerland |
| Publisher | Springer Nature Switzerland |
| Chapter | 6 |
| Pages | 73-86 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-031-68157-8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-3-031-68156-1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 29 Oct 2024 |
Publication series
| Name | Themes in Contemporary Archaeology |
|---|
Bibliographical note
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.Keywords
- Gender
- Inequality
- Archaeology
- Ethnography
- Diversity