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How can we use material traces of past lives to understand sex and gender in the past?
Browsing All Posts filed under »history«
Written in the bones: woman gladiator or upwardly mobile peasant?
Or maybe not. The BBC headline blares Female ‘gladiator’ remains found in Herefordshire and the alarm in my head goes off. Are there weapons, are there any of the things specific to gladiators? well, no. So what’s the real story here? The lead: the archaeologists “have found the grave of a massive, muscular woman”. And […]
Egypt’s chief archaeologist: Tutankhamun “was actually well-developed”
July 1, 2010
You have to think that Zahi Hawass will not want to be remembered for this quote, out of everything he has to say about Egyptian antiquities. But when the intersection between archaeology and sex becomes literally the intersection of archaeology and… sex, I am willing to bet that this is one thing Hawass says that […]
Are dead babies good evidence for a Roman brothel?
June 25, 2010
That’s the question raised by a BBC story about analyses of materials from an almost century-old excavation at a Roman villa in the Thames Valley. The data: remains of 97 infants, all of whom died close to birth. The coincidence suggests deliberate killing of newborn babies. Archaeologist Dr Jill Eyers said: “The only explanation you […]
“Lady Di of the 10th century?”: Poor Eadgyth!
June 17, 2010
“She was a beautiful English princess who married one of Europe’s most powerful monarchs and dazzled subjects with her charity and charm.” Thus did AP reporter Raphael G. Satter start a widely-reproduced story in January that the LA Daily News headline writer reduced to “Lady Di of the 10th Century“. (The Huffington Post more soberly […]
Orkney Venus or Westray Wifie: The power of sexual archetypes
June 16, 2010
The daily Scotsman reported on June 15 that “The Orkney Venus has been named in a shortlist of three for the Best Archaeological Discovery category in the 2010 biannual British Archaeological Awards”. The find is truly important: the object under consideration is almost unprecedented in Neolithic archaeology of Great Britain, and is visually striking, as […]
Gladiators, sex, and gender
June 8, 2010
Every so often, an archaeological find helps clarify why it is critical that we ask questions about the differences among people of the same biological sex, and reminds us that an archaeology of sex and gender has to be as much concerned about men as women. The spectacular cemetery in York, England, that has been […]
Cleopatra and other queens: Is this part of an archaeology of sex and gender?
June 5, 2010
“Her name is synonymous with power and glamour”: so starts an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer prompted by the opening of a new exhibit that opened this week at The Franklin Institute. Which raises the question: what is the relation between an archaeology of sex and gender and the long-standing fascination of the public, shared […]
Sex and gender: what makes for a successful final project?
May 13, 2010
Ideally, a student final project proposal would show a degree of understanding of concepts presented in the class, but would extend them in some way. For my project, I would like to learn more about the galli of ancient Rome, whom I read about in my article for Project Benchmark I. They are interesting because […]
Participation: Putting theory into practice
May 10, 2010
The fourth and final section of my course, “Archaeology of Sex and Gender”, which provided the opportunity to develop the book Ancient Bodies, Ancient Lives, asks students to put the theoretical approaches to understanding sex/gender in the past into practice. Student groups will have already been formed following week 10, when each student is asked […]
July 4, 2010
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