European Gender Archaeologies in Historical Perspective

Abstract

This study presents an overview of the development of gender archaeologies in local academies across Europe, from the initial efforts in Norway in the early 1970s, to the founding of the multinational Archaeology and Gender in Europe (AGE) working group in 2009. In addition, the study seeks to show the scope of gender archaeology once contributions from different traditions in different languages are included, and to provide comparative historiographies for those European countries where gender archaeology is now a major strand of research. We hope that innovative approaches to the study of gender in the past will emerge in the future thanks to fruitful encounters between regional trends and developments.

Cet article présente une vue d'ensemble du développement des archéologies du genre/sexe dans les académies nationales à travers l'Europe; des efforts initiaux en Norvège au début des années 1970 jusqu'à la fondation du groupe de travail multinational AGE (Archéologie et Genre en Europe) en 2009. De plus, on essaie de montrer l'envergure de l'archéologie du genre à partir du moment où on tient compte des contributions de différentes traditions et dans des langues différentes, et de fournir des historiographies comparatives pour les pays européens où l'archéologie du genre représente aujourd'hui un des principaux courants de la recherche. Nous espérons voir apparaître dans un proche futur des approches innovatrices aux études du genre dans le passé, grâce aux rencontres fructueuses entre tendances et développements régionaux. Translation by Isabelle Gerges.

Dieser Beitrag präsentiert einen Überblick über die Entwicklungen der Gender-Archäologien an lokalen Hochschulen in Europa, ausgehend von den anfänglichen Bemühungen in Norwegen in den frühen 1970er Jahren bis zur Gründung der multinationalen Archaeology and Gender in Europe (AGE)-Arbeitsgruppe im Jahr 2009. Weiterhin versucht die Studie, die Spannweite von Gender-Archäologie aufzuzeigen, was Beiträge aus verschiedenen Traditionen in unterschiedlichen Sprachen umfasst, und vergleichende Historiographien für die europäischen Staaten aufzuzeigen, in denen Gender-Archäologie heute ein wichtiges Forschungsfeld darstellt. Wir hoffen, dass die innovativen Ansätze zu Gender-Studien der Vergangenheit zukünftig in fruchtbare Verbindungen zwischen regionalen Trends und Entwicklungen münden werden. Translation by Heiner Schwarzberg.

Keywords:

• gender archaeologies
• feminist archaeologies
• AGE
• national academic traditions

Mots clés:

• archéologies du genre/sexe
• archéologie féministe
• archéologie du genre
• AGE
• traditions académiques nationales

Stichworte:

• gender-archäologien
• feministische archäologie
• archäologie des sozialen geschlechts
• AGE
• nationale archäologische traditionen

Acknowledgements

This study has benefited from the input of many AGE members who have provided information about gender archaeology in their own countries, and commented on parts of a previous draft. Heartfelt thanks, thus, go to Almudena Hernando, Ana Vale, Antonia García Luque, Apen Ruiz, Christine Morris, Dimitra Kokkinidou, Bisserka Gaydarska, Doris Gutsmiedl-Schümann, Elisabeth Arwill-Nordbladh, Ericka Engelstad, Kamila Remišová Věšínová, Julia Koch, Maria Mina, Margarita Díaz-Andreu, Nona Palincas, Sandra Lozano, Uros Matic, Vesna Merc, Will Meyer and Zuzana Jamrichova. This study was in part made possible by support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Ref. HAR2009-07283) and the Catalan Agency for Research and Development (AGAUR, MIDARC-SGR 835).

Notes

1 In this context, ‘modern’ means 1970s onwards. The very first Scandinavian archaeologist to focus on women in the past was in fact the Swedish professor of archaeology, Oscar Montelius. In 1898, he published the article Huru lânge har kvinnan betraktats som mannens egendom?; ett blad ur kvinnans historia. Del I & II (For How Long has Woman been Considered to be Mańs Property? A Leaf from the History of Woman. Parts I & II) (Montelius, 1898).

2 Although these authors use the term ‘European’, it is our impression that they refer mainly to what is being produced in the UK.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Liv Helga Dommasnes

Liv Helga Dommasnes is the co-chair of AGE, and a professor of archaeology at Bergen Museum, the University of Bergen, Norway. She has published widely on gender archaeology, Iron Age burial rites and on dissemination. Among her most recent books are Situating Gender in European Archaeologies (with T. Hjørungdal, S. Montón-Subías, M. Sánchez Romero, and N.L. Wicker; Archaeolingua, 2010); Children, Identity and the Past (with M. Wrigglesworth; Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008), and Vestnorsk forhistorie (Vigmostad & Bjørke, 2006).

Address: University Museum of Bergen, Culture Historical Collections, Haakon Sheteligs plass 10, 5007 Bergen, Norway. [email: [email protected]]

Sandra Montón-Subías

Sandra Montón-Subías is the co-chair of AGE, and an ICREA Research Professor with broad interests in social and theoretical archaeology. She is currently studying the Argaric Bronze Age and gender and maintenance activities. Sandra's recent publications include: Engendering Social Dynamics: The Archaeology of Maintenance Activities (with M. Sánchez-Romero; BAR, 2008); Guess Who is Coming to Dinner: Feasting Rituals in the Prehistoric Societies of Europe and the Near East (with G. Aranda and M. Sánchez-Romero; Oxbow, 2011) and ‘Black Swans and Archaeological Interpretation’ (Norwegian Archaeological Review, 2010).

Address: ICREA, Departament d'Humanitats, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27 08005 Barcelona, Spain. [email: [email protected]]