Gendered Artifacts – Repost

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This episode originally aired on July 23, 2017.  The episode is with hosts Chelsi Slotten, Kirsten Lopez, and Emily Long, and guests Jessica Irwin and Deidra Black.  On this episode, we discuss why some artifacts are viewed as having some intrinsic gender.  For example, weapons tend to be associated with men/seen as male tools, while sewing implements are seen as female.  Why are certain artifacts view this way?  How do our modern biases affect the way we view the past? We delve into the problems with the ‘man the hunter, woman the gatherer’ trope and how this kind of bias can create misleading interpretations of the past.

Show Notes:

• 1,000-Year-Old Remains May Be Of A Highly Respected Nonbinary Warrior, Study Finds: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1026183914/new-dna-analysis-finds-1-000-year-old-warrior-remains-may-be-non-binary
• Archaeology’s sexual revolution: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/16/archaeology-sexual-revolution-bones-sex-dna-birka-lovers
• 6 times that 2020 showed us women from antiquity were totally badass: https://www.livescience.com/women-antiquity-badass-2020.html
• Feminist Theory in Archaeology: Search for the Female through Excavation and Reinterpretation: http://pagepaige.blogspot.com/2013/02/feminist-theory-in-archaeology-search.html
• Don’t underestimate Viking women: The status of Viking women may be underestimated due to the way we interpret burial findings: http://sciencenordic.com/don%E2%80%99t-underestimate-viking-women
• Early men and women were equal, say scientists: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/14/early-men-women-equal-scientists

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What is Feminist/Gender Archaeology? A Nutshell Perspective

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