Bodies in Motion: Narratives and Counter Narratives of Gendered Mobility in European Later Prehistory

Abstract

Normative notions of sex and gender were prevalent in discussion of European prehistoric societies until the last quarter of the 20th century. The progressive work that challenged a binary approach, published particularly in the 1990s, created an anticipation for further nuanced interpretation. This paper argues that, in contrast to this expectation, there was a surprising return to narrating a past of binary sex and gender. Societal roles have continued to be imagined as formalised through structures based on biological sex, with men seen as active mobile agents, while women were passive and static homemakers. We argue that not only is this unhelpful, the archaeological evidence renders it incorrect. We highlight the inherent conflicts in the data to show that investigating sex and gender in the past is difficult with imperfect and complex archaeological evidence. It requires careful and deliberate consideration to avoid normative explanations. In conclusion, we propose that investigating mobility is a particularly effective topic for examining past gendered societal roles.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article emerged from a lengthy period of rumination and numerous fruitful conversations each of us has engaged in with colleagues at conferences, in supervisions, and online. We would particularly like to thank Dr. Rachel Pope, Dr. Justyna Miszkiewicz, Dr. Sophie Bergerbrant, Prof. Andrew Chamberlain, Prof. Julian Thomas, Dr. Matt Walsh, Prof. Karin Frei, the two anonymous peer reviewers, and the NAR editorial team for their thoughts, feedback and comments at various stages. Elements of this research were presented at the international workshop ‘Tales of Bronze Age women’ held at the National Museum, Copenhagen in October 2017. Any leaps of logic or errors in fact are, of course, our own responsibility.

Notes

1. Indeed, there are many critiques to be made of the current archaeological approach to the spread of Corded Ware/Single Grave Culture in the 3rd millennium BC, from the normative and homogenizing conceptualisation of CW/SGC material culture and practices (thoroughly critiqued by Furholt 2014) to the simplistic narratives of culture, biology, and ethnicity which inform and are subsequently bolstered by ancient DNA research (Furholt 2018).

2. The interpretation of the strontium data in this model has recently been challenged (Thomsen and Andreasen 2019, with response from the National Museum researchers here: http://tiny.cc/NM_Response), but we are setting that debate to one side in favour of examining the mobility narrative itself.

3. As an analogy for this sort of behaviour, we could draw a parallel between the Egtved interment and the reports of funerals for early victims of AIDS, which, being organised by estranged biological family uncomfortable with their deceased children’s sexuality, denied their queerness and their intimate relationships (Shilts 2007).

4. Indeed, the debate rages on as trans-exclusionary radical feminists continue to argue, wrongly in our opinion, that to be a woman means to be a normative biological female.

5. Rosemary Joyce’s (2000) well known article about the socialisation and materialisation of gendered embodiment in Mesoamerica and their link to specific social roles and stages of life might be productively read in this light.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [DP160100811 Beyond migration and diffusion: The prehistoric mobility of people & ideas] (Frieman).