GENDER TRANSFORMATIONS in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies. Gender symbolism in female graves of the Bronze Age (original) (raw)
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Gender Transformations in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies
Scales of transformations in prehistoric and archaic societies, 2019
In which chronological, spatial, and social contexts is gender a relevant social category that is noticeable in the archaeological material? How can transformations in social gender relations and identity be recognized archaeologically? Is the identity of prehistoric people defined by gender? If so, what is the accompanying cultural context? What about gender equality among the scientists working in archaeology? In what degree are research teams, as well as their scientific approaches, biased today? These and other burning questions are intensively discussed in this volume, which comprises 25 contributions presented at the international workshop 'Gender Transformations in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies', organised by the Collaborative Research Centre 1266 of Kiel University funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The workshop offered a platform to discuss a broad range of approaches on the inter-dependencies between gender relations and socio-environmental transformation processes. Beyond a focus on the archaeology of women, gender archaeology offers a variety of possibilities to reconstruct the contribution of social groups differentiated e.g. by age, gender, and activities related to cultural transformation, based on the archaeological material. Thus, this volume includes papers dealing with different socioeconomic units, from southwestern Europe to Central Asia, between 15,000 and 1 BCE, paying particular attention to the scale of social reach. Since gender archaeology, and in particular feminist archaeology, also addresses the issue of scientific objectivity or bias, parts of this volume are dedicated to equal opportunity matters in archaeological academia across the globe. This is realised by bringing together feminist and female experiences from a range of countries, each with its own specific individual, cultural, and social perspectives and traditions. The papers are organised along three central topics: 'Gendering fieldwork', 'Tracing gender transformations', and 'Gendering and shaping the environment'. By gendering the archaeological discussion on transformation processes, the contributions aim to more firmly embed gender-sensitive research in the archaeological agenda, not just in Europe, but worldwide .
The Absence of Gender: Iron Age Burials in the Lake Mälaren area
Current Swedish Archaeology, 2021
The article discusses the extent to which conceptions of sex and gender roles can be studied and interpreted on the basis of Iron Age grave material. In accordance with the results of excavations of lron Age cemeteries in central Sweden, it is here argued that the articulation of sex and gender roles was a rare phenomenon in mortuary contexts. Although the articulation of sex and gender is very limited in the artefact material, it is interesting to note that women's graves appear more often than men's graves. Accordingly, this raises questions about women's position in the political and social life of Iron Age society.
This article surveys grave goods found in Žviliai and Pagrybis Cemeteries in the Upper Jūra region (West Lithuania) as symbols of gender. Using the WinBasp software seriation tool, male and female types of grave goods were distinquished as well as types common to both genders. The author seeks to detect changes and continuity of burial traditions for males and females in respect to the tradition of placing specific types of grave goods in the burials from the three periods (Late Roman Iron Age, Early Migration period, Late Migration Period). If grave goods are regarded as gender symbols, their choice for males and females probably reflects areas of 'maculinity' and 'femininity' in real life. This phenomenon can be confirmed with the help of Balt, Germanic and Salvonic mythology sources in which the domain of the gods and humans are intertwined.
2012
Almost thirty years have passed since gender studies entered archaeological discourse in earnest. What is the current status of gender research? One of the aims of this book is to contribute to answer this and other related questions. Another is to shed some light on the pasts and possible futures of gender research. Contributions deal with publications statistics in journals over the last thirty years, neo-realist discussions of Mayan body-politic, intersectional analyses of current Swedish museum exhibitions and Viking Period bos brooches, masculinities in practice at a cultural heritage site, Viking period bodily abilities and disabilities and experiments regarding how once-lived bodies and lives may be materialized.
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