Gender in Archaeology: Analyzing Power and Prestige

by Sarah Milledge Nelson

Book Overview

Sarah Milledge Nelson takes on the formidable task of attempting the first comprehensive feminist, theoretical synthesis of the flood of archaeological work on gender. She examines the roles of women and men in such areas as human origins, the sexual division of labor, kinship and other social formations, state development, and ideology. Nelson provides examples from gender-specific archaeological studies worldwide to examine such traditional myths...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761991166
• ISBN13: 9780761991168
• Release Date: August 1997
• Publisher: Altamira Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

I've been looking for this kind of book for years!

A critical examination of the androcentric approaches in much academic work is crucial to the influx of new ideas and perspectives, and this book does so in a topic that as the author says, is greatly overdue one! Her goal is not alienate anyone of any particular background, simply to open up the field to more nuanced discussion. In such a material field as archaeology many seem to give up preemptively on assigning specific designations to objects and ideas, yet that "giving up" only falls back on a male ideology. She brings up various theories and topics designed to counter this limited point of view, and shows the work of those who have already done some of that critical evaluation. Also the book is chock full of excellent references, so further exploration of topics explored is right at your fingertips! I highly recommend this to anyone doing any sort of work in archaeology, or who is just curious!

Good introduction to gender issues in archaeology

As a beginning (male) college archaeology student, I have not had much exposure to the issue of gender in archaeology yet. When I saw this book in the library, I figured I'd give it a shot over Christmas break. It was not a waste of time. This is a thoughtful and well-written book which points out many obvious (and some not-so-obvious) instances of androcentrism in both the study and practice of archaeology. There are a few places where it seemed that Nelson was about to fall into the trap of gynocentrism which she rightly denounces as being just as bad as androcentrism. However, she usually catches herself in time. I am very glad I decided to read this book, because it has given me a new perspective from which to evaluate the material I will read in the future.