Last
modified Sept. 17, 2004
ANT 556
GENDER
AND ARCHAEOLOGY
Fall
2004, 3 credit hours
Seminar meets Mondays,
Instructor: Dr. Kelley Hays-Gilpin
Office: Anthropology Bldg., 523-6564
email: kelley.hays-gilpin@nau.edu or kah2@jan.ucc.nau.edu (same account)
home page:
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~kah2
Office hours: Mondays and Tuesdays 9-11, and by appointment
Lab: Bilby Research Center Room 160,
523-4450 (no voice mail)
E-mail is usually the best way to reach me. I have e-mail access
from home, lab, office, and library.
Prerequisites: senior
or graduate standing with one previous upper-division or graduate anthropology
course; enrollment in women's studies graduate certificate or minor; anthropology,
AIS, or sociology graduate program enrollment; or permission of instructor.
Course
Description: The seminar will explore and critically evaluate recent efforts
to incorporate questions about gender into archaeological theory and practice,
including evolution of sex differences, sexual divisions of labor, social
constructions of gender, and gender hierarchies. We must deal simultaneously
with two kinds of topics: 1) what we know and what we don't know, what we can
and what we can't learn about women, men, and other gender categories, and the
ideas of "masculine" and "feminine" in prehistory, and 2)
how archaeologists develop and use their array of methods and theories to learn
about the past and how politics influence this process. Investigation of other
kinds of social difference, such as age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and
race, in the past will also be addressed.
Course
objectives: 1) to develop critical thinking about social differences, past
and present,
2) to develop understanding of the roles of sex and gender
differences in long-term human history, 3) to understand the intersectionality of gender, class, race,
sexuality, and age in human history, 4) to develop reading, writing,
and critical thinking skills
Course
structure: The instructor or a student discussion leader will introduce
each topic with a brief lecture, then moderate seminar-style discussion.
Students will read extensively, write summaries of articles and a book review,
prepare questions for discussion, help lead discussion, complete a term paper
(outline, draft, peer review, and final), and present an oral summary at
semester's end. Specific topics to be covered are negotiable, and we will make
efforts to respond to current events, and emerging developments in Anthropology
and Women’s Studies including several important international conferences to be
convened this semester. In short, structure is interactive and flexible, but rigorous.
Textbook
and required materials: The required textbook is Reader in Gender Archaeology, edited by
Kelley Hays-Gilpin and David Whitley (1998, Routledge).
Additional journal articles and book chapters are also assigned (see schedule
of topics and assignments). These will be available when possible on the Cline
Library’s electronic course reserves. Hard copies will be found in the library
journals stacks or print reserves, in the Anthropology Department, or both.
Recommended
optional materials: Students may also wish to read extra
material in their own area of interest. Full citations of many additional
references published prior to 2000 will be found at http://www.nau.edu/~wst/access/anth/biblio.html. This
is also linked from my home page (above). This list could be updated this year
with help from this class.
Course
outline:
I Introduction to Sex, Gender, and Archaeology
II Sex and the Biological Bases for Behavior: Evidence from
Non-Human Primates, Human Evolution
III Polarity or Plurality?: The Social
Construction of Gender
IV "Sexual" Divisions of Labor; Hunter-Gatherers,
Farmers
V Gender Ideology and Iconography; Realms of the Masculine and
Feminine; Representing Women's Bodies
VI Power and Social Hierarchies
VIII New Narratives, New Visions
Evaluations
and deadlines:
Assignments
1) complete weekly reading assignments
BEFORE class
2) take part in class discussion; lead
discussion when assigned
3) check syllabus carefully each week
4) prepare and hand in two questions
for discussion each week.
5) write one paragraph (ideal--
6) write one book review, 2-4 concise
pages.
6) term paper, not to exceed 20 pages
including references and illustrations.
(minimum 10 pages text). Must submit outline, draft, and final version on time for full credit.
8) 10 minute oral summary, followed by class questions or
discussion
9) read draft of another student's term
paper and provide constructive criticism (peer review)
Examinations: none. If writing skills are problems for more than
a few students, I will institute short quizzes on grammar, punctuation, style,
etc. based on departmental standards.
Grading system: 30% class participation (attendance, structured
activities, and unstructured discussion), 30% term paper, 30% other writing
assignments (4 summaries, a book review, and one constructive critique of another
student paper), 10% oral presentation of term paper overview and discussion.
Grades will be scaled approximately as follows: A >90%, B > 80%, C >
70%, D > 50%, F < 50%.
Course
Policies:
1) attendance
is required. Missing more than one class will endanger your grade. Missing more
than two will result in a lower grade.
2) incompletes
will only be given for medical emergencies (student or immediate family)
3) statement on plagiarism and cheating: Students are advised to read and
understand the relevant section of the Student Handbook concerning academic
dishonesty, plagiarism, and cheating. The minimum punishment in this course for
academic dishonesty will be zero points for the assignment. 4) due dates for every assignment will be assigned in class,
and late assignments will not
receive full credit.
5) any term paper project using human subjects, including interviewing,
is subject to approval by NAU's Internal Review
Board.
6) see attached statements of university policies re: safe working
and learning environment
7) the success of this course depends
on constructive, cordial student
interaction and cooperation. Discussions will be polite. Criticism will be
constructive. Students will not monopolize conversation nor interrupt when
another is speaking.
8) written assignments will conform to
the accepted styles of the student’s
major discipline. For archaeologists, this is American Antiquity style. For cultural
anthropologists, American Anthropological
Association/American Anthropologists. Students from other
disciplines will please provide the instructor with a web link to their
appropriate style guide.
7) no
tape, digital, or video recording in
class.
Schedule
of Topics and Assignments:
Numbers in [square brackets] refer to chapter numbers in Reader in Gender Archaeology. Full
references for other readings are provided; these are available in the library,
the Anthropology Department, or both.
Week 1: Aug 30. What are prehistory, archaeology, sex, gender, critical
theory, and feminism? how will we explore relationships
among these topics throughout the semester? Introduction of
class members and instructor. Initial review of gender
and rock art conference in
Week 2: Sept.6. No class
meeting due to Labor Day holiday. Please read:
·
K. Hays-Gilpin, Feminist Thought in
Archaeology, 2000, Annals of the
·
[1] Introduction: Gendering the Past,
Kelley Hays-Gilpin and David S. Whitley
·
[2] Archaeology and the Study of Gender,
Margaret W. Conkey and Janet Spector
·
[3] Women's Archaeology? Political
Feminism, Gender Theory, and Historical Revisionism, by Roberta Gilchrist
·
[4] The Interplay of Evidential Constraints
and Political Interests: Recent Archaeological Research on Gender, Alison Wylie
WRITE two questions for discussion next week. I encourage you to
meet in small groups and formulate your questions as a team.
Week 3: Sept. 13. Introduction to recent
studies of gender and "engendering the past" by archaeologists.
Discussion of readings (see week 2), course goals, and
potential student projects. Come prepared to discuss your own goals for
this class. Please skim through the entire reading list, formulate some ideas
about possible term paper projects, and propose additional topics.
WRITE: summary/critique #1 of one chapter OR a position paper
that summarizes the issues raised by several of the
readings and presents your own opinion. Two questions for discussion.
Week 4: Sept. 20. “Indiana Joans”:
Introducing archaeology’s changing goals and methods with women archaeologists
in history.
Read:
·
The Creation of Power and Prestige, Chapter
2 in Gender in Archaeology: Analyzing
Power and Prestige, by Sarah Milledge Nelson,
1997,
·
Excavation Bias and the Woman at Home
Ideology, by Joan Gero, in Equity Issues for Women in Archaeology, edited by M.C. Nelson, S.M.
Nelson, and A. Wylie, pp. 37-46, 1994, Archeological Papers of the American
Anthropological Association 5.
·
Women Archaeologists in the Southwest, by
Linda S. Cordell, in Hidden Scholars,
edited by N. J. Parezo, pp. 202-220, 1993, University
of New Mexico Press, OR pick any chapter from
Women in
Archaeology, edited by Cheryl Claassen,
1994, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press OR from Grit-tempered:
Early Women Archaeologists in the Southeastern United States, edited by
N.M. White, L.P. Sullivan, R.A. Marrinan, 1999,
University of Florida Press (for example, Chapter 5, Black and White Women at
Irene Mound, by Cheryl Claassen), OR from Excavating Women: A History of Women in European Archaeology, edited by Margarita
Diaz-Andreu and Marie Louise Stig
Sorensen, Routledge, London and New York.
WRITE: two questions for
discussion, alone or with a group.
PICK a book to review, due in a
few weeks (see list of choices, appended).
Week 5: Sept. 27. Sex and human evolution
Read:
·
[5] Woman the Gatherer: The Role of Women
in Early Hominid Evolution, Adrienne Zihlman
·
[6] An Axe to Grind: More Ripping Yarns
from Australian Prehistory, Sheila M. McKell
·
[7] Brain Evolution in Females: An Answer
to Mr. Lovejoy, Dean Falk
·
Sex and Gender in Paleoanthropology,
by Lori D. Hagar, in Women in Human
Evolution, pp. 1-28, 1997, Routledge.
WRITE: summary #2 of one article/chapter from this week or last
week OR a position paper that summarizes the issues raised
by several of the readings and presents your own opinion.
Two questions for discussion, alone or with a group.
Week 6: October 4. Polarity, Plurality, or Spectrum?: Sex and the social construction of gender
Read:
·
Supernumerary Sexes. M. Kay Martin and
Barbara Voorhies, 1975. Chapter 4 in Female of the Species, pp. 84-107.
·
Exploring What Makes Us Male or Female: A
Conversation with Anne Fausto-Sterling, by Claudia Dreifus, New York Times,
Science Section,
·
Epilogue, Henrietta Moore, 1991, in Engendering Archaeology, edited by J. Gero and M. Conkey eds., pp.
407-411.
PICK TWO:
·
Amazons of
·
Changing and Diverse Roles of Women in
American Indian Cultures. Teresa D. LaFramboise, Anneliese M. Heyle, and Emily J. Ozer, 1990, in Sex
Roles 22:455-476.
·
any chapter from S.E. Jacobs, W. Thomas and
S Lang, editors, Two-Spirit People,
1997
·
any
chapter from W. Roscoe, editor, Changing
Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America, 1998.
·
any
chapter from Will Roscoe, The Zuni
Man-Woman, 1991.
·
Patricia C. Albers, From Illusion to
Illumination: Anthropological Studies of American Indian Women, 1989, in Gender and Anthropology: Critical Reviews
for Research and Teaching, S. Morgen, ed., pp.
132-149, 1989, American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.
WRITE:
·
summary/critique #3 of
one article or chapter OR a position paper that summarizes the issues raised by
several of the readings and presents your own opinion.
·
two
questions for discussion, alone or with a group.
·
Explore term paper topics with your
colleagues and instructor.
Week 7: Oct. 11. "Sexual" divisions of labor:
hunter-gatherers and farmers
·
[9] Lithic
Technology and the Hunter-Gatherer Sexual Division of Labor, Kenneth Sassaman
·
The Evolution of Hunting, Sherwood Washburn
and C.S. Lancaster, and, Hunting: An Integrating Biobehavioral
System and Its Evolutionary Importance, William S. Laughlin. in
R.B. Lee and I. DeVore, eds,
Man the Hunter, pp. 293-320. 1968
(!).
·
Woman the Gatherer, Sally Linton (Slocum),
1971, (in Women in Perspective, S.E.
Jacobs, ed.; reprinted in Toward an
Anthropology of Women, R. Reiter, ed. 1975, 36-49).
·
[8]
Male/Female Task Differentiation among the Hidatsa: Toward the Development of
an Archaeological Approach to the Study of Gender, Janet Spector
[skim]
·
[10] The Development of Horticulture in the
Eastern Woodlands of
Pick one:
·
Violence Against Women in the La Plata
River Valley (A.D. 1000 – 1300), Debra L. Martin, 1997, in Troubled Times: Violence and Warfare in the Past, edited by D.L.
Martin and D. W. Frayer.
·
Changes in Activities with the Shift to
Agriculture in the
·
Don’t Blame Men for the Patriarchy: A
Conversation with Ken Wilber. New Age
Journal, July/August 1995:79, 137-140
WRITE two questions for discussion, alone or with a group. You
should have a draft book review now. Optional: turn in draft review for
comments, or exchange drafts with a colleague.
Week 8: Oct. 18. Gender Iconography and Ideology
READ:
·
[11]
Where Have All the Menstrual Huts Gone? The Invisibility of Menstrual
Seclusion in the Late Prehistoric Southeast, Patricia Galloway
·
[12] Spinning and Weaving as Female Gender
Identity in Post-Classic
Sharrisse D. McCafferty and Geoffrey G. McCafferty
·
[13] Identifying Gender Representation in
the Archaeological Record: A
Contextual Study, Liv Gibbs (skim)
·
By the Hunter, For the Gatherer: Art,
Social Relations and Subsistence Change in
the
Prehistoric
·
Decoration as Ritual Symbol: A Theoretical
Proposal and an Ethnographic Study in
WRITE: 2-4 page book review; two questions for discussion, alone
or with a group,
Week 9: October 25. Gender and Rock Art
READ any four chapters in Ambiguous
Images: Gender and Rock Art, by Kelley Hays-Gilpin, 2004, Altamira Press. Suggested: Chapters 2, 5,
7, 8.
WRITE: two questions for
discussion (alone or with a group), and a one paragraph to one page term paper
proposal, including outline and major references
Week 10: Nov. 1. Gender Iconography and Ideology: Women,
Goddesses?
·
[14] The Paleolithic Mother-Goddess: Factor
Fiction?, Pamela Russell
·
[15] Women, Rituals, and Social Dynamics at
Ancient Chalcatzingo, Ann Cyphers
Guillen (skim)
·
Father Earth, Mother Sky: Ancient Egyptian
Beliefs about Conception and Fertility, Ann Macy Roth, 2000, In Reading the Body, edited by Alison Rautman, pp. 187-201.
Pick two:
·
Diversity of the Upper Paleolithic
"Venus" Figurines and Archaeological Mythology, Sarah M. Nelson,
1990. In Gender in Cross-Cultural
Perspective, Brettell and Sargent, eds., pp.
67-73, 1997, Prentice Hall.
·
Female Figurines in the European Upper Paleolithic:
Politics and Bias in Archaeological Interpretation, by Margaret Beck. In Reading the Body, edited by Alison Rautman, pp.202-214. 2000,
·
No Possible, Probable Shadow of Doubt,
Alice Kehoe, 1991, Antiquity
65:129-131.
·
The Uses of Archaeology for Women's
History: James Mellaart's Work on the Neolithic
Goddess at Catal Huyuk, by Ann
Barstow, 1978, Feminist Studies
4:1:7-18.
·
Rewriting the Past to Save the Future: A
Review of The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future,
by Beth Grindell, 1993,
WRITE: summary #4 of one
article from this week or the last few weeks OR a position paper that
summarizes the issues raised by several of the
readings and presents your own opinion.
and two questions
for discussion, alone or with a group.
Week 11: November 8. Power and Hierarchies: Origins of Gender
Hierarchy and Gender
in
Complex Societies
Read:
·
[16] Skeletal Evidence for Sex Roles and
Gender Hierarchies in Prehistory, Mark Nathan Cohen and Sharon Bennett (skim)
·
[17] Gender Hierarchy and the
·
[18] Women, Kinship, and the Basis of Power
in the Norwegian Viking Age, Liv Helga Dommasnes
PICK TWO:
·
The Roots of Inequality, by Barbara Bender.
In Domination and Resistance, edited
by D. Miller et al., pp. 83-95, 1989, Unwin Hyman.
·
Women in States, Irene Silverblatt,
1988, Annual Review of Anthropology (Inka)
·
The Aztecs and the Ideology of Male
Dominance, June Nash, 1978, Signs
4(21):349-362
·
Gender, Space, and Food in Prehistory,
Christine Hastorf, in Engendering Archaeology, edited by Gero
and Conkey, 1991, pp. 132-159. (Pre-Inka)
·
Weaving and Cooking: Women's Production in
Aztec Mexico, Elizabeth Brumfiel, in Engendering Archaeology, edited by J. Gero and M. Conkey, pp. 224-251, 1991,
Basil Blackwell.
·
Images of Production and Reproduction in
Pre-Hispanic Southern
write: two
questions for discussion. Work on term paper. By now, you should be working on
a rough draft.
Week 12: Nov. 15. Gender, Race, and Class in Colonial and
Historic
Read:
·
Colonization and Women's Production: The Timucua of
·
Gender and Historical Archaeology: Eastern
Dakota Patterns in the 19th Century, Mary K. Whelan, 1991. Historical Archaeology 25(4):17-32.
Pick one book or three article/chapters:
·
Gender, Activity Areas, and Homelots in the 17th Century
·
The Archaeology of Women in the Spanish
·
Moon,
Sun, and Witches: Gender Ideology and Class in Inca and Colonial
·
chapters from Those of Little Note: Gender, Race, and Class in Historical Archaeology,
edited by E.M. Scott, 1994,
·
The
Archaeology of Mothering: An African-American Midwife’s Tale, by
Laurie A. Wilkie, 2003, Routledge.
Write: 2 questions for discussion, work on term paper: finish
rough draft of text and references cited.
Week 13 : Nov. 22. Children of Prehistory
Read: Pick
·
Babes in the 'Hood: Concepts of "Personhood"
and the Spatial Segregation of Infants from Adults in Archaeological Burial
Practices, Louise M. Senior, 1994. Paper presented at the 59th Annual Meeting
of the Society for American Archaeology,
·
A Child is Born.
The Child's World in Archaeological Perspective, Grete
Lillehammer, 1989. Norwegian
Archaeological Review 22:2:91-105.
·
Archaeology of Childhood, Blythe Roveland, 1997. Anthropology
Newsletter 38:4:14-16.
·
Tiny Arrowheads: Toys in the Toolkit, Bob Dawe, 1997. Plains
Anthropologist 42:161:303-318.
·
one or more chapters in Invisible People and Processes: Writing
Gender and Childhood into European Archaeology, section on Writing Children
and Childhood, edited by Jenny Moore and Eleanor Scott, Leicester University
Press,
·
one or more chapters in Children in the Prehistoric Puebloan
Southwest, edited by Kathryn A. Kamp, 2002, University
of Utah Press. Suggested: Chapter 3, by C. Piper, from an NAU master’s thesis;
chapters 5 and 6 on children learning to make pottery; chapter 10 on the
antiquity of
·
one or
more chapters in Children and Material
Culture, edited by J.S. Derevenski, 2000, Routledge.
Write: term paper draft
due, bring 2 copies. Include references cited section and draft
illustrations, if used. Two questions for discussion.
Week 14 Nov. 29. New
Narratives, New Visions
Read:
·
[19] The Ancient Californians: Rancholabrean Hunters of the
·
[20] What This Awl Means: Feminist
Archaeology at a
·
[21] Boys will Be Boys: Masculinist
Approaches to a Gendered Archaeology, A. Bernard Knapp
·
Good Science, Bad Science, or Science as
Usual? Feminist Critiques of Science, by Alison Wylie, in Women in Human Evolution, edited by Lori Hager, 1997, Routledge.
Pick one:
·
Have We got a
Theory for You! Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism and the Demand for
"The Woman's Voice," Maria Lugones and
Elizabeth Spelman, Women's Studies 1983:378-390.
·
Read more of Janet Spector’s book, What this Awl Means
WRITE: peer review due of 1 fellow student's paper, two
questions for discussion.
Week 15 December 6
student
presentations
Final version of term papers
due December 13 at
MORE
INFORMATION
Book review: The goal of the book review
project is to read, understand, and critique a full-length monograph on the
subject of gender and archaeology that focuses on a particular area of the
world, or a particular case study. A few choices in ethnohistory
are included. If you do not see your area of interest represented, see me about
it. Most edited volumes are a bit diffuse in focus and make critical reviewing
difficult, but we can discuss the possibility. I am willing to entertain
reviews of edited volumes that clearly focus on a particular area or time
period (I can suggest edited volumes on Africa and the Maya area, for example),
and some topical volumes are reasonably well-focused (for example, mortuary
studies, children in prehistory, history of women in archaeology).
It would be a good idea to pick
a book that has something to do with your term paper, but it isn’t required.
See me about this if nothing here obviously fits, and you would like to link
the two projects.
Pick one from the following list (or see the instructor about
other possibilities):
Bruhns, Karen Olsen and Karen E. Stothert
1999 Women in Ancient
Eller, Cynthia
2000 The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory. Beacon Press,
Gilchrist, Roberta
1993 Gender and Material Culture: The Archaeology of Religious Women. Routledge,
Joyce, Rosemary
2000 Gender and Power in Prehispanic
Silverblatt, Irene,
1987 Moon, Sun, and Witches: Gender Ideology and
Class in Inca and Colonial
Spector, Janet
1993 What This Awl Means: Feminist Archaeology at
a
Taylor, Timothy
1996 The Prehistory of Sex: Four Million Years of Human Sexual Culture. Bantam,
Wall, Diana diZerega
1994 The Archaeology of Gender: Separating the Spheres in Urban
Wilkie, Laurie A.
2003 The
Archaeology of Mothering: An African-American
Midwife’s Tale, Routledge,
Examples
of term paper topics: the goals of this term paper project are
to develop and refine critical thinking, research, and writing skills, and to
learn something interesting that can be shared with the group.
Library
Research:
prehistory: The
earliest known human burials with grave goods are of Neandertals.
Were male and female Neanderthals differentiated by their grave goods? First,
can we tell this from the existing literature? If we do have published
information on grave goods, what does differentiation by sex or lack of
differentiation by sex tell us about gender (as a social construct) in these
early humans? dare we say early human
"society"? If there is not published information, write a research
design to show why this question is important and how you would find answers.
ethnoarchaeology: Many
Plains tribes have two art styles used in hide painting, a geometric style used
by women and a representational style used by men. What is the distribution of
this gender dualism in art on the Plains? Does it correlate with a particular
kind of social organization or division of labor, or with the historical
relationships among particular groups? Is there anything to
be
learned here that can be used to help archaeologists interpret prehistoric art?
Other similar ideas: is there gender dualism in
archaeological
methods: a great deal of recent ethnography addresses the roles of intersex and “berdache” individuals in Native North
American cultures. Archaeologists have written very little about how we might
identify the activities, roles, or bodies of such individuals in prehistory.
What has been written about this topic, do you think identifying such
individuals is feasible and important? Or are these the wrong questions--do you
think archaeologists are working with adequate models of sex and gender, and if
not, what needs to change?
Critique some
“popular” texts and discuss how interpretations of the past affect present day
public education, politics, or scholarship in fields other than archaeology.
For example:
Compare a few old introductory archaeology texts with new ones
and explain what changes there have been in regard to gender, age, ability, and
class--are there still biases? Does only language change or are there
substantive changes? Do illustrations change or stay the same even when
language changes?
Critique a "popular press" version of
prehistory--Time-Life Emergence of Man series (1972), Early man (1965), also
National Geographic--especially examine illustrations (who is active, who
isn't, body posture--are all the women kneeling while men stand poised for the
kill?, etc.) Contrast w/Nancy Tanner's "On Becoming Human."
Original
Research:
If you are involved in ongoing archaeological research, and your
project has some potential to address the kinds of questions we are asking in
this course, you may use your own data and research design. Beware of taking on
more than can be handled in a short, 1 semester paper!
You may also possible do a "modern material culture"
study about how gender and activity areas, dress, subsistence behavior,
domestic inventory, etc. vary by gender in our society. Is there an application
of the method or conclusions to archaeology? To complete this successfully, you
have to get beyond just showing that men and women in our society do things
differently. You would need to document and explain a link to larger issues of
power, access to resources, social structure, the role of responsibilities to
dependent children, and so on.
Note that any research involving human subjects requires an
Internal Review Board approval, and this is very difficult (but possible) to do
in one semester.