Gender Archaeology

As a research focus within gender archaeology, spatial analysis can reveal the
structure of division and hierarchy both between individuals and within a group,
which can elicit a series of critiques. This approach reflects the conceptual structures
of society and highlights elements of gender relations because the spatial
context of physical space is where social and gender relations are established.2
The present analysis is based on the study of a series of cuneiform texts written
in Sumerian and Akkadian languages on clay tablets and bricks dating mostly to
the following periods: Paleo-Elamite III (ca. 1900–1500 BCE = the Sukkalmah
dynasty) and Middle Elamite I (ca. 1500–1400 BCE = the Kidinuid dynasty). In
this study, the spaces belonging to or attributed to women are divided into three
main categories: (1) residential places, (2) places for economic production, and
(3) places for religious activities. Spaces are grouped according to the functions
they served for women in terms of living, producing, or carrying out religious
duties. Additionally, this paper intends to examine “private” and “public” spaces
and analyse women’s activities in them.

No es inusual encontrarse en manuales de Historia generalizaciones de grandes personalidades femeninas diluidas en unos pocos párrafos. Si bien es cierto que, el género humano en su conjunto integra a las mujeres y los hombres por igual, es bien sabido que la Historiografía desde tiempos antiguos ha tendido a ocultar o difuminar grandes figuras femeninas de la Historia. Considerando así a las mujeres como sujetos históricos, en la actualidad cada vez existen más trabajos de investigación que traten acontecimientos históricos desde el punto de vista de figuras femeninas. En el caso de la Historia Antigua, más en concreto, del Mediterráneo Antiguo, la documentación y las fuentes primarias no escasean, pero sí son difíciles de encontrar. Por ello, resulta importante analizar la evolución de los estudios históricos que se han realizado en las últimas décadas sobre las mujeres en la Antigüedad.
Las mujeres de la casa real macedonia desempeñaron un papel público mucho más visible que el de las mujeres de otras poleis griegas. Diversas evidencias muestran que mantenían correspondencia con figuras políticas, aparecían ante los ejércitos y ejercían una influencia política significativa en el siglo IV a.C. Además, participaban activamente en la esfera religiosa, actuando como patronas de santuarios, dedicantes y posiblemente sacerdotisas. Este conjunto de actividades demuestra que las reinas macedonias no vivían en un aislamiento comparable al de otras realidades del momento, sino que formaban parte de la red política y ceremonial de la monarquía.
En este marco debe situarse la figura de Eurydice I of Macedon, una de las mujeres más influyentes de la Macedonia del siglo IV a.C. Eurídice fue esposa de Amyntas III of Macedon y madre de tres reyes macedonios: Alexander II of Macedon, Perdiccas III of Macedon y Philip II of Macedon, el monarca que transformaría Macedonia en una potencia hegemónica en el mundo griego y sentaría las bases para la posterior expansión de Alexander the Great. Sin embargo, su importancia histórica no radica únicamente en su papel como madre de reyes. Las fuentes muestran que Eurídice intervino activamente en la política macedonia durante un periodo de gran inestabilidad dinástica, defendiendo los derechos sucesorios de sus hijos y participando en la construcción de la legitimidad del linaje real.
El objetivo de esta conferencia es analizar la figura de Eurídice dentro del contexto más amplio de las mujeres de la élite macedonia durante las épocas tardoarcaica y clásica. A través del estudio combinado de fuentes literarias y arqueológicas, se pretende mostrar cómo estas mujeres pudieron desempeñar un papel relevante en distintos ámbitos de la vida social, religiosa y política. De este modo, Eurídice no será presentada únicamente como una figura excepcional, sino como parte de un fenómeno más amplio que permite comprender mejor la participación femenina en la construcción del poder y la memoria dinástica en la Macedonia antigua.

O presente trabalho analisa o romance histórico Inés da Minha Alma, de Isabel Allende, compreendendo-o como uma fonte narrativa e política fundamental para o estudo da conquista do Chile no século XVI. A investigação centra-se na dialéctica entre a violência colonial, utilizada como ferramenta de fundamentação da ordem espanhola, e a resistência do povo Mapuche, caracterizada por uma sofisticada agência política e militar.

Gender discrepancies among peer-reviewed publications in academia have become a topic of great interest to archaeologists over the past two decades. Overall, this research has demonstrated a consistent bias towards men, who tend not only to publish more often but are also much more likely to serve as first or sole author. In the current study, we examine publishing trends in the peer-reviewed, four-field journal Plains Anthropologist between 1954 (the inaugural publication of this journal) and 2023, covering a span of 69 years and 266 issues, the longest temporal study in gendered publishing to date. During this time, men have published as first author in 82 percent of articles, while women serve as first author in only 17 percent of publications, which is one of the highest rates of gendered discrepancies recorded in a peer-reviewed archaeological journal to date. Further, this discrepancy has remained fairly constant since the early 1990s, with an overall decrease in the rate of women authors since that time.

Resumo: Neste artigo, analisa-se tanto a obra A origem da família, da propriedade privada e do Estado, de Friedrich Engels, quanto os Cadernos Etnológicos de Karl Marx, com foco em seus extratos sobre Morgan. Serão debatidas passagens nas quais tanto Marx quanto Engels apresentam uma disparidade na representação feminina na mitologia grega entre a figura da deusa e a da mulher. Entendemos que, para os autores, as deusas (femininas) estariam em uma posição mais próxima dos deuses (masculinos) que as mulheres dos homens no âmbito terreno, e essa discrepância poderia ser compreendida como uma herança, que se manteve na expressão religiosa, de um momento histórico pretérito em que as mulheres detinham uma posição mais igualitária, livre e influente em relação aos homens. Nesse sentido, resgata-se a noção de ossificação ou fóssil social, desenvolvida por ambos autores, como uma categoria importante para a interpretação da mitologia grega. Desse modo, busca-se demonstrar o que cada autor expôs sobre o tema, levando em consideração os períodos históricos, os textos literários e as personagens que invocam para defender suas hipóteses, além de comparar o pensamento de cada um para definir se há ou não uma concordância entre ambos na temática. Assim, o artigo também pretende contribuir para o debate sobre a compreensão de Marx e de Engels acerca da historicidade da opressão de gênero.

One of the challenges we often face in ecohistorical reviews is the problem of shifting baselines. This is a 1 human fault in perception and cognition. As ecosystems and resources decline each generation accepts that what used to be seen (30 or 40 years ago) was normal without going back further in time to consider what the original baseline may have been. Estimating the population of California before European contact offers a perfect example of baseline bias. This has implications for management practices like extensive use of fire that were important in landscape development , and generations of improvement in cultivars of important foods like 2 3 Dichelostemma, Brodiaea, Chalochortus, Prosopis, Quercus and other species.

This statue is unlike traditional ancient Greek statues as it was made of wood and was likely small enough to be carried as it was looted from the Acropolis during the Persian invasion of Athens in 480 BCE. (Brøns, Gods and Garments, 43) Despite being lost to time, the statue was that of Athena Polias, meaning "of the city," which is considered both the most sacred and oldest statue of Athena, even in ancient times. (Brøns, Gods and Garments, 325). 10 Brøns, Gods and Garments, 325. 9 Brøns, Gods and Garments, 325.

This study investigates how meaning is preserved or distorted in medieval textual systems through a comparative analysis of Viking Age runic inscriptions from Uppland (Sweden) and a problematic Latin phrase traditionally interpreted as "Oligamus Stella, dux." Drawing on a controlled corpus of inscriptions from the Vallentuna-Sigtuna-Orkesta region, including a dense micro-corpus at Vallentuna Church, the analysis demonstrates that runic inscriptions maintain semantic stability through visible structural segmentation, repeated formulaic clauses, explicit relational markers, and network redundancy across inscriptions. Even under conditions of fragmentation, textual variation, and narrative complexity, identity and meaning remain constrained. By contrast, Latin texts written in scriptio continua lack visible structural boundaries, allowing segmentation errors to generate entirely new semantic constructions. The figure "Oligamus Stella, dux" is therefore reinterpreted not as a historical individual, but as the product of mis-segmentation within a structurally ambiguous textual environment. The study proposes a threshold model of textual stability and argues that meaning in medieval sources depends on structural visibility rather than lexical continuity alone.

Studying “People of the Past”, both as social categories and as individuals, has become a significant area in
Eurasian and American archaeology in the final decades of the 20th century AD. The conventional starting point
for the European archaeology of childhood was the publication by the Norwegian archaeologist G. Lillehammer,
“A child is born. The child’s world in an archaeological perspective”, published in 1989. Over more than 35 years,
the area has become one of the most dynamically developing in archaeology, encompassing most of the world.
At the present stage, childhood is understood as one of the stages in the life course of an individual, a period of
biological growth and, at the same time, as a social construct that is different for each society. The biological aspects
of ancient childhood are studied by bioarchaeology, while the reconstruction of children’s lives in specific societies
is undertaken by the social approach. The combination of these approaches makes it possible to reconstruct a
picture of the lives of children even for societies that have left only material evidence. The aim of this work is to
review trends, approaches and methods of study of childhood in the first quarter of the 21st century AD in Western
European and American archaeology.

Ritual objects, referred to in the archaeological literature as caches, hoards, or stashes, have been found in burial sites of the Sintashta and early Alakulʼ (Petrovka)/Alakulʼ cultures of the 2 nd millennium BC in the Ural-Qazaqstan Steppe. This article uses the term stash (Rus. схрон) to describe the purposefully hidden objects discovered in nine burial structures known from publications. Three groups of objects, most of which were made of copper-based alloys, are identified: weapons; tools; household items; and jewelry. The authors suggest that the objects in the stashes are a physical expression of a socioeconomic "code" defined in the Sintashta and early Alakulʼ sites by a combination of military and industrial items. The stash in the Alakulʼ burial rite represents the cultic purpose of a deposit. Possibly, the objects in the stashes demonstrate the professional and social status of the buried individuals.

В статье представлены результаты исследования предметного набора и состава жертвенных животных в погребениях синташтинской культуры на территории Урало-Казахстанских степей. Рассмотрены две выборки захоронений (одна -с собаками, другая -без собак), сформированные с целью проверки гипотезы о высоком социальном статусе людей, погребенных с собаками. Основное внимание уделяется результатам анализа соответствий, проводившегося для сравнения погребального инвентаря из 46 захоронений. Выявлены три группы погребений. Первую группу составляют ямы, в которых многочисленными находками являются астрагалы, вторую группу -погребения с преимущественно керамическими сосудами, третью группу -погребения с многокомпонентным инвентарем. Доказано, что в каждой группе только в погребениях с собаками представлены т.н. предметы престижа: бронзовые наконечники копий, костяные лопаточки, каменные навершия булав, бронзовый чекан, гарпуны из кости и бронзы, терочники и песты. Другими признаками высокого социального статуса индивидов в захоронениях с собаками являются расположение погребений в центральной части могильника или наличие ямок и отпечатков различных деталей колесного транспорта и др. Перечисленные признаки представляют собой паттерны статусных характеристик, одним из которых является жертвоприношение собаки. Сделан вывод о том, что в погребальном ритуале синташтинской культуры жертва собаки предназначалась группе людей, условно обозначенной элитной. В нее входили пастухи и люди, связанные с металлопроизводством. Для представителей этих двух хозяйственных отраслей символический статус собаки, скорее всего, имел большое значение. Ее образ получил распространение в духовных практиках и ассоциировался с охранником жизненно важных ресурсов и защитником людей.

Ancient Egyptian art and architecture left a deep and lasting mark across the Eastern Mediterranean, shaping civilizations like the Minoans, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and even Ptolemaic Egypt. Minoan-Egyptian Interactions (Middle-Late Bronze Age) is affirmed through the excavations at Tell el-Dab'a (ancient Avaris) where thousands of Minoan-style fresco fragments such as bull-leapers, griffins, vibrant wall paintings which were executed in the true buon fresco technique which were unearthed. These testify to direct artistic exchange, possibly via Aegean artisans in Egypt or Egyptian court patronage of Aegean styles. The emergence of Nilotic landscapes in Minoan frescoes (depicting exotic fauna and papyrus clusters, painted on wet plaster) mirrors Egyptian iconography, evidencing sustained Aegean-Egyptian cultural dialogue. In Cyprus, particularly at Enkomi, scholars highlight the emergence of a "third space" a blend of local Cypriot, Egyptianizing, and Aegean motifs reflected in architecture, glyptic art, and ritual paraphernalia. The region's syncretic material culture reflects dynamic cross-cultural interaction rather than simple diffusion. From the sixth century BCE, Greek adoption of Egyptian religious ideas such as Isis-Osiris motifs and Book of the Dead iconography was facilitated by Ionian, Carian, and Egyptian diaspora in major Aegean ports. Mythological parallels (e.g., Dionysos Zagreus vs. Osiris's death and rebirth) indicate deep symbolic adoption, later absorbed into Greek Orphic and mystery cult traditions. Quantitative geospatial analysis (cadastres of maritime ports, military garrisons) demonstrates a strong correlation between Ptolemaic military outposts and the spread of Isis and Sarapis cults across the early Hellenistic Aegean. The urban grid of Alexandria was laid out according to Greek urbanistic design yet incorporated Egyptian temple precincts, civic planning, and built environments. These sources form a robust, academically grounded foundation for understanding how Egyptian art and architecture permeated and transformed the eastern Mediterranean cultural landscape-from fresco techniques and iconography to religious architecture and mythic structures.

La denominada “arqueologia del cuerpo” ha puesto de manifiesto la relevancia que tiene el estudio del cuerpo para reflejar las experiencias vividas por las personas en el pasado. Para ello se ha servido en su desarrollo teorico y metodologico de ideas procedentes tanto de la fenomenologia como de la teoria feminista. Nuestro objetivo en este trabajo es el analisis de los cuerpos de las mujeres enterradas en el asentamiento argarico del Cerro de la Encina (Monachil, Granada) para intentar observar a traves de la cultura material como estas mujeres han experimentado el mundo a lo largo de sus vidas.

Sexuality is a human dimension whose study makes it possible to understand the civilizing process and the direction of social conduct. The historical bias of sexuality brings multiple possibilities, in this work we prioritized a bibliographical research of an exploratory nature to detect patterns of sexuality in classical civilizations: China, Greece, Rome, Persia and India, in the book History of Sexuality by Peter Stearns. The analysis aimed to focus on specific aspects of sexuality such as interest in sexual pleasure, division by gender, the role and participation of women, homoerotic relationships, prostitution, culture and art. Sex for procreative purposes was a constant in all the civilizations analyzed. Interest in sexual pleasure varied according to cultural conditions. Interest in female pleasure showed greater and lesser emphasis in India and Greece respectively. Sex outside of marriage was frowned upon when practiced by women. Female prostitution socially accepts the distinction between respectable and non-respectable women. Homoerotic sexuality was more freely practiced in Greece than in other places and at the same time it was the place that most devalued female sexuality. Among the Greeks, passivity was frowned upon, but sex between men was a matter of parity. In terms of sex and art, China produced little in this regard, whereas the Greeks explicitly produced sex as an artistic expression. The sexual artistic themes of the Romans were influenced by Greeks but were less obscene and more apotropaic. In India, erotic art presented itself as a form of intersection between sexuality and religiosity, showing a mixture of sex, deities, anatomical details and sexual positions. The societies analyzed were more open to fantasies and wanton sexual conduct in art and culture than in everyday life.

Esta tesis buscó examinar y caracterizar la producción de hilo en el Valle de Copán  durante los períodos Clásico Medio (400-600 d.C.), Clásico Tardío (600-900 d.C.) y  Posclásico Temprano (900-1200 d.C.). Estableciendo la relación entre la tecnología del  hilado y los contextos sociales en los que se ejecutaba. Con el objetivo de observar si las  diferencias en las características sociales de los habitantes del valle influían en el acceso a la  materia prima utilizada en la producción y en las preferencias sobre la calidad de los hilos  producidos. Esta investigación permitió examinar el desarrollo de la producción de hilo desde  un punto de vista diacrónico y ampliar la discusión y el conocimiento sobre actividades  textiles más allá del núcleo urbano en la bolsa de Copán, donde habitaba la élite política del  Valle.
Los resultados de esta investigación no solo dibujan un esquema de comportamiento entre  las artesanas en la producción textil en Valle, sino que también hilan una narrativa de los  aspectos sociales y las prácticas cotidianas involucrados en el proceso de producción de hilo. La accesibilidad a recursos  y bienes de prestigio durante el Clásico Tardío también estaba influida por el estatus social, lo que delimitaba algunos aspectos de la producción artesanal en los distintos asentamientos del  Valle. Sin embargo, parece que la producción de hilo en el Valle de Copán  era, en cierto grado, ajena a los parámetros de centralización en la accesibilidad de la materia  prima y de las herramientas utilizadas, como ocurría con la producción lítica durante el Clásico  Tardío. Los resultados de esta investigación muestran que las hilanderas en el Valle tenían acceso a un amplio  rango de fibras naturales y que producían un amplio rango de calidades de hilo, en particular hilo fino, independientemente de su estatus social.

Esta obra está sob licença Creative Commons. Resumo: Resumo: Resumo: Resumo: Resumo: O presente texto propõe-se a investigar a operação dialética que Calipso elabora (Canto 5 da Odisseia -Regresso) ao ser obrigada pelos Deuses (Zeus), contra a sua vontade, a deixar Odisseu seguir o seu regresso à Ítaca. A análise é feita à luz dos estudos de gênero e feministas. O canto em questão pode figurar como um dos principais registros ocidentais das relações de gênero, destacando-se entre as demais passagens da Odisseia como um todo. Em poucas palavras, o canto cinco indica a superação dialética da condição não hegemônica das mulheres a partir da intransigência do gênero. Palavras-chave Palavras-chave Palavras-chave Palavras-chave Palavras-chave: gênero; superação; Odisseia

One of the most well-known and largest early medieval necropolises in Western Europe lies near the small town of Lauchheim in Baden-Württemberg, South West Germany. Totaling around 1400 inhumations dating from the 5th-seventh Century AD, it was completely excavated between 1986 and 1996. Due to the high frequency of finds and the fragility of some of the bone material, much use was made of block lifting. Some blocks still remain unopened. The good state of preservation and the juxtaposition of the necropolis with a contemporary settlement, which was also extensively excavated, set the stage for an extensive socialhistorical analysis of a local early medieval community over two centuries. Analysis of the grave goods and an anthropological appraisal have been combined and structured in a specially designed Database containing over 30,000 individual entries. A GIS Map of the site, arduously piped from the original hand drawings via vectorization software and CAD into Open Source GIS, allows for perspicuous visualization of any combination of anthropological data and/or finds and contributes greatly to the understanding of the development of the necropolis. Since 2008 the Lauchheim Project has been supported by the German Research Council, allowing innovative conservation and documentation methods including complete anthropological examination, 3D computer tomography of the unopened blocks (with sometimes surprising results) and an extensive examination of organic material and textiles.

La scoperta di un'officina per la produzione primaria del vetro presso la fortezza sardo-fenicia (625-550 a.C. ca.) del Nuraghe Sirai di Carbonia (SU), avvenuta nel 2011, è stata negli anni successivi completata dal ritrovamento di altre aree produttive legate al ciclo del vetro. La portata della documentazione è particolarmente importante come contributo alla conoscenza del modello insediativo sardo-fenicio del Sulcis alla fine del VII sec. a.C. ed in relazione alle dinamiche interculturali fra la componente locale e quella di origine orientale. Altrettanto rilevante è l'aspetto contestuale della produzione del vetro nell'ambito dei rapporti fra la sfera produttiva e quella del sacro, dato l'inserimento dell'officina all' interno di un'area di culto, analogamente a quanto si riscontra in altre culture mediterranee. PREMESSA Se le prime testimonianze di manufatti in vetro nella Sardegna nuragica vengono fatte risalire fino al Bronzo Medio avanzato (1500-1350 a.C.) e le prime perle di vetro blu intenso sono state datate al Bronzo Recente (1350-1150 a.C.), è durante l'arco del Bronzo Finale (1150-1000 a.C.) che viene collocata la diffusione delle perle 'a occhi', come quelle provenienti da San Cosimo di Gonnosfanadiga (SU) e da Su Fraigu (CA) 1 . 1

Our warm thanks to Sylviane Déderix, Maguelone Bastide and Priscilla Ralli for inviting us to deliver the keynote address at the Pioneer Women Workshop, and for their editorial work on this dossier. The French School at Athens kindly funded travel and accommodation for the Workshop. Thanks are also due to Katerina Trantalidou, who offered constructive comments on an earlier draft, and to Eleni Manakidou, who brought to our attention the case of women archaeologists seeking alternative ways to enter the profession.

Nel Settembre del 1984, durante la realizzazione del Collettore Orientale di Marcianise (CE), in un punto non specificato, vennero alla luce alcune tombe a fossa pertinenti a un sepolcreto preromano. I reperti, prelevati con mezzi di fortuna dal personale della Soprintendenza Archeologica, vennero costipati in alcune cassette e conservati presso i depositi di S. Maria Capua Vetere; nel 2005 furono oggetto di uno specifico studio e, nel 2007, di un parziale restauro. Nonostante l’esiguità dei reperti e la totale mancanza della documentazione di scavo, è stato possibile stabilire che queste tombe erano pertinenti a una necropoli databile dal V alla fine del IV sec. a.C.

Nel Settembre del 1984, durante la realizzazione del Collettore Orientale1, in un punto non specificato vennero alla luce alcune tombe a fossa pertinenti a un sepolcreto preromano. Nonostante l’esiguità dei reperti e la totale mancanza della documentazione di scavo, è stato possibile stabilire che queste tombe erano pertinenti a una necropoli databile dal V alla fine del IV sec. a.C.

"Roots of Resilience" delves into the rich tapestry of matrilineal practices among Native American tribes, highlighting the influential roles of women in governance, cultural preservation, and economic stability. Through the lens of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Iroquois Confederacy, the book reveals how these matriarchal systems fostered community cohesion and resilience, even amidst the challenges posed by European colonization. This exploration underscores the enduring significance of female leadership and the unique kinship dynamics that shaped these societies.

BUGALHÃO, Jacinta (2025) - A Arqueologia em Portugal entre o final do século XX e o início do século XXI (1970 - 2014) (Monografias AAP, 15). Lisboa: AAP. Disponível em: https://www.museuarqueologicodocarmo.pt/publicacoes/monografias/monografia_15/Monografia15_AAP-versdigit.pdf.

Pet let po potresu je Arheološki muzej v Zagrebu letos julija svoje prostore ponovno odprl za javnost. Med novostmi je tudi razstava Arheologija i popularna kultura, ki je bila odprta 2. oktobra 2025 in bo na ogled do 1. februarja 2026. Avtorja razstave sta arheologinja Jacqueline Balen in Daniel Rafaelić, filmski zgodovinar, režiser in igralec, Ema Kosnica pa je kustodinja razstave. Razstava v glavnem vsebuje grafično gradivo, plakate,
posterje, fotografije ipd., ki jih mestoma dopolnjujejo predmeti, kot so knjige, videokasete, CD-plošče, makete in celo oblačila. Po razstavi nas vodijo besedilni panoji in podnapisi v hrvaškem in angleškem jeziku. Celostna podoba razstave je oblikovana v duhu poparta.

A. Ulanowska, K. Lewartowski (2025), The First Post-World War II Generation of Female Archaeologists at the University of Warsaw: Ludwika Press and the Gendered and Non-Gendered Challenges to Becoming an Aegeanist within the Confines of Marxist Ideology and the Iron Curtain. In S. Déderix et al. (eds), Pencil and dust. Women who shaped archaeology in Greece and the Greek world, BCH Suppl. 74, École française d’Athènes, Athens, 135–141
https://books.openedition.org/efa/20128

El papel de la mujer en la cosmovisión mágica de las comunidades fenicio-púnicas en el entorno doméstico Introducción A partir del análisis de los restos materiales domésticos y la información extraída de textos, en su mayoría de procedencia abrahámica (Delgado Hervás, s. f.) disponibles directamente relacionados con la cosmovisión mágica de las comunidades fenicio-púnicas, podemos extraer información de los aspectos ritualizadores en el ámbito familiar y doméstico protagonizados por las mujeres. Estos rituales se concretan en prácticas de orden litúrgico con el objetivo de ofrecer bienestar, protección o sanación al grupo familiar. En este sentido, la mujer mediante la transmisión intergeneracional desempeñó un papel crucial, tanto en aspectos vitales como son el parto, la fertilidad y en general, sobre todos los aspectos relacionados con la salud, tanto en el ámbito doméstico como en el supradomestico con la comunidad.

This article examines the life and career of Maria Luigia Marella (1905–1993), an Italian archaeologist whose trajectory sheds light on the complex position of women in the discipline during the first half of the twentieth century. Drawing on archival sources from the Italian Archaeological School at Athens and the State Archives of Rhodes, the study reconstructs Marella’s training, her activities in the Dodecanese during the period of Italian rule, and her later career within the Italian archaeological administration. Particular attention is given to the tensions between institutional expectations, gender norms, and political contexts in Fascist Italy. Marella emerges as an unconventional figure: independent, often at odds with authority, and navigating a professional world still largely dominated by men. By situating her biography within the broader historiography of archaeology in the Greek world, the paper contributes to ongoing efforts to recover the overlooked roles played by women in the development of the discipline and highlights the complex entanglement of archaeology, politics, and personal agency in the interwar Mediterranean.

During the earthworks control operations for the execution of the N-435 bypass, Trigueros-Beas (from May to July 2015), the remains of five cist funerary structures were discovered in the archaeological sites known as “Los Torcales 1 and 6”, very close to the area where Mariano Del Amo
discovered and published the Beas cist in 1975, one of the few examples where preserved human bones were documented.
The five cists were found intact and contained grave goods compatible with other assemblages from both the Guadalquivir area and the sierra de Huelva, dating to the first half of the second millennium BC. Based on the two anthropological analyses conducted, radiocarbon dating, and the similarities with other assemblages such as the necropolis of Cortijo de Chichina (Sanlúcar la Mayor, Seville), La Orden-Seminario (Huelva), and the SE-B and SE-K necropolises from the operations at Cobre Las Cruces, Salteras (Seville), among others, it will be presented an interpretative proposal of the funerary ritual and its sequencing following the individual’s death and burial.

This article is based on an EAA session in Kiel in 2021, in which thirteen contributors provide their response to Robb and Harris's (2018) overview of studies of gender in the European Neolithic and Bronze Age, with a reply by Robb and Harris. The central premise of their 2018 article was the opposition of ‘contextual Neolithic gender’ to ‘cross-contextual Bronze Age gender’, which created uneasiness among the four co-organizers of the Kiel meeting. Reading Robb and Harris's original article leaves the impression that there is an essentialist ‘Neolithic’ and ‘Bronze Age’ gender, the former being under-theorized, unclear, and unstable, the latter binary, unchangeable, and ideological. While Robb and Harris have clearly advanced the discussion on gender, the perspectives and case studies presented here, while critical of their views, take the debate further, painting a more complex and diverse picture that strives to avoid essentialism.

Given the absence of written records, the main source of information available to analyze gender inequalities in early complex societies is the human body itself. And yet, for decades, archaeologists have struggled with the sex estimation of poorly preserved human remains. Here we present an exceptional case study that shows how ground-breaking new scientific methods may address this problem. Through the analysis of sexually dimorphic amelogenin peptides in tooth enamel, we establish that the most socially prominent person of the Iberian Copper Age (c. 3200–2200 BC) was not male, as previously thought, but female. The analysis of this woman, discovered in 2008 at Valencina, Spain, reveals that she was a leading social figure at a time where no male attained a remotely comparable social position. Only other women buried a short time after in the Montelirio tholos, part of the same burial area, appear to have enjoyed a similarly high social position. Our results invite to reconsider e...

Os estudos de género consolidaram-se como um eixo fundamental das ciências sociais nas últimas quatro décadas. A sua incorporação na arqueologia tem gerado, desde a década de 1980, um vasto conjunto de contributos científicos que permitiram formular novas linhas de análise e propostas interpretativas em diversos domínios da disciplina.
Neste contexto, o presente fórum de debate é concebido como um espaço de reflexão crítica sobre a integração da perspetiva de género na prática arqueológica e histórica, a partir da partilha de experiências provenientes de diferentes setores profissionais. A proposta abrange um amplo enquadramento cronológico, desde a Pré-história até à arqueologia e história contemporânea, e procura colocar em diálogo abordagens teóricas, metodologias e estudos de caso desenvolvidos no oeste da Península Ibérica, com especial enfoque na Galiza e em Portugal.
Através destas contribuições, o fórum pretende analisar de que forma a perspetiva de género permite visibilizar o papel das mulheres e de outros sujeitos historicamente invisibilizados pela investigação, bem como avaliar o seu impacto tanto na produção de conhecimento acadêmico como nas comunidades locais. Para tal, contará com a participação de investigadoras nacionais e internacionais cujos trabalhos integram uma reflexão crítica e feminista, orientada tanto para a inclusão das mulheres nos processos de investigação arqueológica como para a análise do seu papel ao longo da história.
O encontro será estruturado em torno da apresentação de diversos trabalhos com perspetiva de género atualmente em desenvolvimento na Galicia e em Portugal, no âmbito de diferentes projetos e linhas de investigação, com o objetivo de promover um modelo inclusivo de aprendizagem e produção de conhecimento. A sessão será complementada por uma mesa de perguntas e um fórum de debate aberto a todas as pessoas participantes, fomentando o diálogo entre investigação, prática profissional e sociedade.

Two authors from different study fields (Archaeology and Law) give their contribution to the debate around the creation of a Council of Archaeologists in Portugal. The aim of this collaboration is to understand the status of the debate, from the first contributions to the present
day, in order to establish a basis for dialogue about the hypothetical creation of a Council. They neither reject nor impose it; they rather pose a set of questions that help reflect realistically on this complex issue.

As proxies for the emergence of "modern human behavior," archaeologists typically rely on changes in technological complexity and/or the first appearance of symbolic items or practices. In this paper, I examine both approaches and conclude that neither, as currently envisioned, is likely to provide the answers archaeologists seek. Technological complexity is always a work in progress, and deciding where to place the boundary between "pre-modern" and "modern" is arbitrary. The symbolic approach is better suited to the task but problematic nonetheless, because archaeologists focus only on objects or practices that had no evident utilitarian function. That assumption flies in the face of ethnographic reality. Traditional Indigenous peoples see symbolic meanings in almost everything in their world, whether utilitarian or not, mundane or special, animate or inanimate, natural or supernatural. The hearth, smoke, cardinal directions, colors, plants, animals, water, wind, clouds, rain, thunder, lightning, minerals, even toolstone, all are viewed as sentient, volitional spirit-beings with human-like temperaments, needs, and expectations. Importantly, this worldview introduces spiritually motivated behaviors and constraints that have real world causal agency. Why should we assume that the first time a few peoples scattered across Eurasia or Africa decided to wear ornaments or paint cave walls conveniently coincided with the first time human beings possessed the cognitive capacity for symbolic behavior? A deeply spiritual worldview could have emerged millennia earlier, but saw its expression in other domains of material culture or phenomena, including those that archaeologists routinely dismiss as utterly mundane and utilitarian. I suggest that technological complexity cannot resolve the modernity issue, and that the current focus on symbolism expressed exclusively in non-utilitarian objects and practices is far too narrow and fails to recognize the pervasive nature of spiritualism in traditional societies. I offer what I believe is a more anthropologically sound research paradigm for exploring the origins of modern human behavior, and some admittedly very preliminary suggestions for a way forward.

The Archaeological Challenge of Gender asks, what do we know about the relations between men and women in past societies, and on what basis is this knowledge built? Although sources of data are meagre and often indirect, this book plays particular attention to exploring gender relations in a way that acknowledges its complexity. Contributors show how difficult questions on gender relationships in past societies are, avoiding preconceived ideas and naive reasoning. The book starts with a grounding introduction that takes readers through questions such as: what is gender archaeology? What are its objectives and methods, but also its shortcomings and dead ends? How can social anthropology contribute to our knowledge of the gender relations of disappeared societies? In what way have these real or, more often, supposed gender relations been put at the service of a discourse on the present society? Chapters then tackle specific themes using case studies from around the globe that highlight common issues, controversy and methodological problems. Taking a critical approach and addressing the way knowledge is constructed in this field, this book is for students and researchers in Archaeology, Anthropology and Gender Studies.

Depuis quelques années, les femmes préhistoriques suscitent un intérêt inédit de la part du grand public et des médias. Cet intérêt résonne avec les débats contemporains sur la place des femmes, sur le chemin parcouru et celui qui reste à accomplir pour atteindre l'égalité des sexes. Pour la préhistoire, l'enjeu est d'identifier quand et comment le patriarcat a émergé, de repérer les éventuels points de bascule et, ce faisant, de connaître notre passé pour mieux agir sur le présent. Préoccupation politique et progrès de la connaissance se rejoignent ici et s'enrichissent mutuellement.
Dès lors, une question s'impose avec acuité : la domination masculine existait-elle à la préhistoire ? Si oui, depuis quand et sous quelles formes ? Des données permettent aujourd'hui de documenter différents aspects de la vie des individus préhistoriques (unions, maternité, santé, alimentation, activités, affichage du statut et du pouvoir, apprentissage du genre, phénomènes de violence...), avec des degrés de précision variables selon les effectifs disponibles et les régions du monde.
En s'appuyant sur l'ensemble des ressources archéologiques accessibles pour une vaste zone – de l'océan Atlantique à l'Oural et du bassin arctique jusqu'à la Méditerranée –, cet ouvrage met en lumière les dynamiques fondamentales des relations entre hommes et femmes du Paléolithique moyen au Néolithique.
De manière inédite à une telle échelle, ce livre dresse un état des connaissances sur la condition des femmes préhistoriques, à travers une démarche résolument ancrée dans une réflexion sur le genre.

This paper summarizes archaeological research on the Bronze Age of the island of Crete during the last decade. It starts off by highlighting the most important excavations and surveys and the publication of data through monographs, periodicals, scientific proceedings and other media. Next it considers how our conventional understanding of Minoan culture has been affected both by recent research and discoveries and by theoretical and interpretive shifts. Emphasis is placed on the influence of various social theories that have questioned the focus on centralization at different scales and increased our appreciation of specific cultural practices and dynamics by using bottom-up and embodied approaches. As such, chronology, architectural studies, pottery, cult, iconography and social and political systems are discussed, as are aspects of materiality, corporeality, performance and gender. Finally, the changes in the academic environments dealing with Minoan archaeology receive some attention.

Gender inequality carries high social costs, and understanding its causes and consequences remains a pressing concern. Numerous policymakers and academics have taken on this challenge, including anthropological archaeologists. Because archaeologists create narratives about the past that can justify or question current and future actions, contemporary archaeological practice impacts everyone. This themed issue builds on recent documentations of disparities and calls to address them. To do so, contributors use a mix of quantitative and qualitative analyses, as well as novel theoretical perspectives, to understand why intersectional gender-based inequalities continue and to propose interventions to rectify them. We begin by considering the history of feminist equity critiques. We then argue that scholars should build on existing research by reconceptualizing not only difference but also exclusion. Policymakers, academics, and others must move beyond the problematic yet ubiquitous metaphor of a leaky pipeline and instead consider the active-though often unconscious and unintentional-ways individuals and institutions exclude, including through notions of fit, prestige, and the hysteresis of habitus, also known as the Don Quixote effect. The overarching goal of the themed issue, and this article, is to advocate for interventions in contemporary archaeological practice and beyond.

P hilippe Bernardi (né en 1959) est un archéologue et historien français, spécialiste du monde de la construction à la fin du Moyen Âge. Après sa thèse de doctorat, soutenue en 1990 au laboratoire d'archéologie médiévale méditerranéenne d'Aix-en-Provence, il entre au CNRS en 1993. Après son habilitation à diriger des recherches, soutenue en 2002, il devient directeur de recherche et rejoint le LaMOP (UMR 8589,

El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar los resultados de la puesta en valor turística y activación patrimonial del sitio arqueológico El Coyparcito, el cual fue elegido por la comunidad para formar parte de los atractivos turísticos locales. Esta puesta en valor posibilitó la proyección social de nuestras investigaciones, dando lugar a una arqueología comprometida con quienes habitan los territorios en los cuales realizamos nuestro trabajo académico. Además, la estrategia elegida para la implementación del circuito, permitió minimizar el impacto sobre el sitio arqueológico, reforzar el vínculo comunidadinvestigadores y democratizar el acceso a los resultados de investigaciones académicas. Generamos una propuesta que responde a las demandas comunitarias, y promueve la conservación y el uso sustentable del patrimonio arqueológico de la localidad, entendiendo que esa conservación debe ser el resultado de una gestión participativa, que dé lugar a discursos alternativos a la arqueología y garantice las condiciones para su legitimidad.

Until a few years ago it was virtually impossible to determine partner selection practices in prehistoric societies using archaeological approaches. Consequently, unquestioned bourgeois family concepts regularly served as a model for prehistory. New molecular genetic and bioinformatic approaches are currently providing entirely new insights into the social structures of various periods and regions of European prehistory. Additionally, we now have an improved understanding of partner selection in the prehistoric Aegean, where the particular significance of cousin-cousin partnerships has been demonstrated. In our article, we show that this practice of finding a partner in the Bronze Age Aegean must be considered in a spatially and temporally differentiated manner. On the basis of ethnographic and historical findings, we try to explain the possible motivations behind this particular choice of partner and why it may have been so significant for certain local societies in the Bronze Age Aegean. We argue that a complex interplay of gender roles, subsistence practices and natural environment may have been decisive in promoting certain practices of mate choice.

Inequality is an issue that has been present throughout history. Any society that emphasizes differences among its members, establishing the dominance of some individuals over others for any reason, generates inequality. Inequalities—whether social, economic, political, religious, or gender-based—are so deeply embedded in societies that it is impossible to write history without taking into account their existence and the ways in which they are addressed.
The seminar seeks to analyze the archaeological trace of inequality at the following levels:
• Social
• Gender
• Production cycles
• Anthropological; bioarchaeology and inequality (diet, pathologies…)
• Habitation spaces. Urban stratification of settlements. Centers of power as manifestations of inequality…
• The agricultural world, internally and in the countryside–city relationship
• Territory. Occupation of privileged and marginal spaces, access to resources…
• Material culture and tools
• Diet
• Interreligious relations (treatment of minority communities: Jewish, Muslim, etc.)
• Social stratification in sacred spaces and cemeteries
• Any other aspect in which inequality is manifested

First strontium isotope analysis of a heritage hemp fabric in Iceland. Fornvännen 120. Stockholm. The strontium (Sr) stable isotope ratio (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) is a powerful hydrogeological and biogeochemical tracer and has been used to determine the geographical provenance of minerals and bones, as well as protein and plant fibers, but few textiles made of bast fibers. Here we report a first attempt to investigate the possibility of using Sr isotopic analysis to trace the origin of a heritage hemp (Cannabis sativa) fabric from Iceland likely made in the early 17 th century and previously identified botanically. Iceland has a uniform young soil type formed by volcanic activity making it possible to collect a single soil sample and compare it to a reference sample of recently grown Icelandic hemp fibers. This special circumstance makes the Sr isotope ratio conclusive for determining whether the heritage textile hemp fibers were grown there or not. Fibers from a Romanian hemp towel were also analyzed as additional reference material, to calculate the sample size required when analyzing the Icelandic fabric. In total, four samples were analyzed, and the results are reported here. Strontium isotope signals indicate that hemp fibers from the Icelandic fabric were not grown on the island, and that they may have originated in France or Scotland.

In the area of the Equus Project (P.E.), intensive specialized prospecting has revealed dozens of surfaces with motifs typical of peninsular schematic art that have arrived in the form of painted walls in the NE and N of Portugal and in the SE and east of Galicia. The same motifs have been engraved in the P.E. area: bars, divided rectangles, dots, quadrupeds, grids and, in a varied and massive form, anthropomorphs. Here we bring to light the presence of gynomorphic figures and the recent discovery of an oculated figure on the Atlantic coast and other possible ones further inland (As Neves).

Keywords: Equus Project, peninsular schematic art, anthropomorphs, gynomorphic, oculated figures.

Resumo

Na área do Proxecto Equus (P.E.), a prospección especializada intensiva deu a coñecer ducias de superficies con motivos propios da arte esquemática peninsular que chegaron en forma de paredes pintadas ó NE e N de Portugal e ó SE e leste de Galicia. Os mesmos motivos témolos gravados na área do P.E.: barras, rectángulos divididos, puntos, cuadrúpedes, retículas e, de forma variada e masiva, antropomorfos. Aquí achegamos a presenza de figuras xinecomorfas e a recente descuberta dunha figura oculada á beira do Atlántico e outras posibles máis ó interior (As Neves).

ISSN: 2340-2644

In her research, Brigitte Röder has given major impulses for archaeological childhood research. In Early Medieval archaeology, despite a wealth of archaeological sources and untapped research potential, only a few studies have notably addressed this topic. Our goal in this paper—focusing primarily on the Merovingian kingdoms and adjacent areas—is to characterise and unlock this potential. After introductory remarks outlining
key concepts and the current state of archaeological
childhood research, particularly highlighting Brigitte Röder’s
contributions, we discuss the specific state of research on
childhood archaeology in the Early Middle Ages, with special
attention to German-language scholarship. In addition, we
will elaborate on several topics which could be promising for
the conceptualisation of “childhood” in the Early Middle Ages:
the role of children in the production of material culture,
images of children in Early Medieval art, and a disciplinary
(self-)reflection on children in archaeological reconstruction
drawings of the period. Building on this discussion, we then
aim to propose new ideas, point out research gaps, and show
future perspectives in Early Medieval childhood archaeology.

La publicación da cuenta y describen cuatro exvotos de bronce de época ibérica (siglos III-IV a.C.) procedentes del Santuario del Collado de los Jardines ubicado junto al puerto geográfico de Despeñaperros (Santa Elena, Jaén), y en el cual fueron hallados durante muchos años cientos de estas figuritas de las más diversas formas, y que han sido objeto de múltiples investigaciones y publicaciones. De los objetos descritos en este artículo dos de ellos se encuentran en paradero desconocido, mientras que los otros dos se custodian en el Museo Arqueológico de la ciudad de Bilbao (Arkeologia Museoa) / The publication reports on and describes four bronze votive offerings from the Iberian period (3rd-4th centuries BC) from the Collado de los Jardines Sanctuary located next to the geographical port of Despeñaperros (Santa Elena, Jaén), where hundreds of these figurines of the most diverse shapes were found over many years and have been the subject of numerous studies and publications. Of the objects described in this article, two are currently missing, while the other two are kept at the Archaeological Museum of the city of Bilbao (Arkeologia Museoa).