This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Archaeology of Women

Code: 100379 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500241 Archaeology OT 3
2500241 Archaeology OT 4
2500501 History OT 4

Contact

Name:
Cristina Rihuete Herrada
Email:
cristina.rihuete@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

No specific requirements are needed to apply for this course.


Objectives and Contextualisation

The main goals of the course are:

(1) to analyze androcentric biases in archaeological theory & practice

(2) getting acquainted with the main alternatives posed by feminist social theory & activism

(3) to delve in the diversity of human experience from a gender standpoint

(4) to show the interdisciplinary nature of gender studies in archaeology through a wide array of case studies

(5) focusing on new methodologies and analytical procedures which are nowadays available for a gender-sensitive archaeology

 


Competences

    Archaeology
  • Contextualizing and analysing historical processes.
  • Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  • Providing a context for the concepts of archaeological theory and its origin and distinguishing the main epistemological and methodological debates in social sciences.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
    History
  • Contextualizing the historical processes and analysing them from a critical perspective.
  • Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Applying both knowledge and analytical skills to the resolution of problems related to their area of study.
  2. Applying both knowledge and capacity for analysis to the resolution of problems related to the field of study.
  3. Critically assessing the sources and theoretical models.
  4. Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
  5. Effectively expressing themselves and applying the argumentative and textual processes of formal and scientific texts.
  6. Identifying the characteristic methods of Archaeology and its relationship with the historical analysis.
  7. Identifying the context of the historical processes.
  8. Identifying the specific methods of archaeology and their relationship with the historical analysis.
  9. Identifying the specific methods of history and their relationship with the analysis of particular facts.
  10. Knowing the main archaeological debates on Prehistory.
  11. Mastering the relevant languages to the necessary degree in the professional practice.
  12. Recognising the importance of controlling the quality of the work results and their presentation.
  13. Recognising the importance of controlling the quality of the work's results and its presentation.
  14. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  15. Transmitting the results of archaeological research and clearly communicating conclusions in oral and written form to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  16. Using the specific interpretational and technical vocabulary of the discipline.
  17. Using the specific technical and interpretational vocabulary of the discipline.

Content

The contents of the course are organised in the three major blocks.

The first one is an introductory one and deals with the conception of women in Western society as well as the path and plurality of feminism and its impact in History, Humanities and Social Sciences.

The second is devoted to key concepts in feminist critique applied to archaeological practice and representations of the past: sexism, androcentrism, gender, patriarchy, family, sexuality, ethics of care and work/labour.

The third block delves into the wide array of topics that have been studied with a gender perspective starting with the first alternatives to androcentric explanations on the origins of humanity and sexual division of labour. This section includes many case studies from all over the world and different time periods that have to do with funerary practices, settlement & territory analysis, social and economic interpretation of material remains, symbolism and biomolecular archaeology (paloediet, kinship and biological relatedness).

 

The syllabus will cover the following topics:


1. Feminist activism and social theory in historical perspective and its impact in the research with a gender perspective.

 

2. Androcentrism.

 

3. Sex and Gender.

 

4. Women archaeology, gender archaeology, feminist archaeology and queer archaeology

 

5. Critique and methodological alternatives to androcentrism and gender stereotypes in archaeology

 

6. Patriarchy, matriarchy and matricentric/ginecentric societies.

 

7. Body, kinship and ancestry: palaeogenetics and mobility stories.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Theory 40 1.6 3, 10, 6, 13
Type: Supervised      
Tuition, essays, reviews and discussions 20 0.8 3, 10, 11, 5, 7, 9, 13, 15
Type: Autonomous      
Homework and studying for tests 30 1.2 1, 5, 9, 14, 12, 16

Class-room activities


- Lectures with ICT support

- Debate and work in groups. Collective evaluation of texts and video documentaries. Single/collective presentations and round evaluations.

 

Monitored activities

- Scheduled meetings for the discussion of specific doubts and topic contents.

- Guidance and counselling on specific doubts and topics.

 

Autonomous activities

- Individual study, text-reading, bibliography and documentary search.

- Written essays & oral presentations

 

Notice: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses through questionnaires.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Active involvement in discussions and workshops 15% 10 0.4 3, 10, 5, 9, 14, 15, 16
Tests 85% 50 2 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 5, 4, 7, 6, 8, 9, 14, 13, 12, 15, 16, 17

Screening tests typology

- Written tests

- Essays

- Oral presentations

- Involvement in discussions

 

Evaluation blocks

There will be a continuous assessment of the course through three different block, each one of them having a specific weight in the final grade:

1. Class-room activities will be evaluated by written tests & essays

2. Monitored activities will be evaluated through oral presentations and involvement in discussions

3. Autonomous activities will be evaluated through essays

 

Evaluation timetable

The student will be informed about the specific contents and deadlines of the different evaluation blocks right at the beginning of the course and also via moodle.

 

Requirements to pass the course

- Meeting all deadlines

- The final score should be ≥ 5 in a 0-10 scale.

- Not meeting one or more deadlines will deserve an "unassessable" final grade.

- Any irregularity committed in a particular evaluation block (copy, plagiarism) will deserve a 0 score in that specific block.

 

Re-evaluation

Re-evaluation will be granted to anybody delivering in time all evaluation blocks.

It will be a written test on the full content of the course. Date and place will be determined by the faculty. The maximum score will be 5,0.


Bibliography

[reading recommended in bold type]

 

RESEARCH ON WOMEN: feminist theory and epistemology, concepts and contributions

 

Arruza, Cinzia; Bhattacharya, Tithi; Fraser, Nancy (2019), Manifiesto de un feminismo para el 99%. Herder, Barcelona.

 

Azpiazu, Jokin (2017), Masculinidades y feminismo. Virus, Barcelona.

 

Beauvoir, Simone (1999 [1949]), El segundo sexo. Cátedra, Madrid.

 

bell hooks (2017 [2000]), El feminismo es para todo el mundo. Traficantes de Sueños, Madrid. https://traficantes.net/libros/el-feminismo-es-para-todo-el-mundo

 

Braidotti, Rosi (2004), Feminismo, diferencia sexual y subjetividad nómade. Gedisa, Barcelona [veure capítols 4 i 6 com a bibliografía rellevant del tema 3].

 

Braidotti, Rosi (2022), Feminismo posthumano. Gedisa, Barcelona

 

Butler, Judith (1990), Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity.  Routledge, London [traducción al castellano en Paidós, Barcelona, 2001, El género en disputa. Feminismo y la subversión de la identidad]

 

Butler, Judith (2004), Undoing Gender. Routledge, New York [traducción al castellano en Paidós, Barcelona, 2004, Deshacer el género].

 

Despentes, Virginie (2018), Teoría King Kong. Literatura Random House, Barcelona.

 

Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2000), Sexing the Body. Gender politics and the construction of sexuality. Basic Books, New York [traducción al castellano en Melusina, Sta. Cruz de Tenerife, 2006, Cuerpos sexuados. La política de género y la construcción de la sexualidad].

 

Faye, Shon (2021), Trans. Un alegato por un mundo más justo y más libre. Blackie Books, Barcelona.

 

Federici, Silvia (2018), Revolución en punto cero. Trabajo doméstico, reproducción y luchas feministas. Col. Mapas, Traficantes de Sueños, Madrid. https://www.traficantes.net/libros/revoluci%C3%B3n-en-punto-cero

 

Firestone, Sulamith (1973), The Dialectic of sex. Johnathan-Cape, London [traducción al castellano en Kairós, Barcelona, 1976, La dialéctica del sexo]

 

Galindo, María (2021), Feminismo Bastardo. 2ª edición, Mujeres Creando, La Paz.

 

El Hachmi, Najat (2019), Siempre han hablado por nosotras. Feminismo e identidad. Un manifiesto valiente y necesario. Col. Destino preferentes, Ed. Planeta, Barcelona.

 

Haraway, Donna (1995), Ciencia, cyborgs y mujeres. Cátedra, Col. Feminismos. Madrid. [original de 1991 Simians, Cyborgs and Women; https://monoskop.org/images/f/f3/Haraway_Donna_J_Simians_Cyborgs_and_Women_The_Reinvention_of_Nature.pdf]

 

Herd, Gilbert (ed.) (1994),Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History. Zone Books, New York.

 

Irigaray, Luce (1992),  J’aime à toi. Esquisse d’une félicité dans l’Histoire. Bernard Grasset, París [traducción al castellano en Icaria, Barcelona, 1994, Amo a tí: bosquejo de una felicidad en la historia].

 

Jónasdóttir, Anna G. (2011), “¿Qué clase de poder es “el poder del amor”?”, Sociológica, 26(74): 247-273.

 

Martín, María (2019), Ni por favor ni por favora. Como hablar con lenguaje inclusivo sin que se note (demasiado). Libros de la Catarata, Madrid.

 

Meana Suárez, Teresa (2002), Porque las palabras no se las lleva el viento... Por un uso no sexista de la llengua. Ajuntament de Quart de Poblet. Descargas en https://www.observatoriodelainfancia.es/oia/esp/documentos_ficha.aspx?id=1089

 

Moreno, Amparo (1986), El arquetipo viril protagonista de la historia. Ejercicios de lectura no androcéntrica. La Sal, Barcelona. http://www.amparomorenosarda.es/es/arquetipo-viril,

 

Pateman, Carole (1988), The Sexual Contract. Polity Press, Cambridge [traducción al castellano en Antrhopos, Barcelona, 1975, El contrato sexual ]

 

Rich, Adrienne (1980), “Compulsory heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence”, Signs, 5-4: 631-660.

 

Varela, Nuria (2013), Feminismo para principiantes. Novoprint, Barcelona.

 

Vergès, Françoise (2022), Un feminismo descolonial. Traficantes de Sueños, Madrid. Disponible en https://traficantes.net/libros/un-feminismo-descolonial

 

Wollstonecraft, Mary (1792, 2005), Vindicación de los derechos de la mujer. Istmo, Col. Fundamentos, Madrid.

 

WOMEN, GENDER, FEMINIST, QUEER and TRANS ARCHAEOLOGY.  THEORICAL APPROACHES, METHODS AND APPLICATIONS.

 

AAVV, (2006), Les dones en la Prehistòria. Museu de Prehistòria de València, Diputació de València.


Adovasio, James; Soffer, Olga; Page, Jake (2007),  The Invisible Sex. Uncovering the true roles of Women in Prehistory. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California [traducción al castellano en Lumen, Barcelona, 2008, El sexo invisible: el verdadero rol de las mujeres en la prehistoria].

 

Ainsworth, Claire (2015), “Sex redefined”, Nature, 518: 288–291; https://doi.org/10.1038/518288a

 

Arnold, Bettina y Wicker, Nancy L. (eds.) (2001),  Gender and the Archaeology of Death. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek.

 

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland (1994), Women’s work. The first 20.000 years. Women, cloth, and society in Early Times. W.W. Norton & Company, Nova York.

 

* Berrocal, Mª Carmen (2009), “Feminismo, teoría y práctica de una arqueología científica”, Trabajos de Prehistoria, 66 (2), pàgs. 25-43.


Bertelsen, Reidar; Lillehammer, Arnvid; Naess, Jenny-Rita (eds.) (1987 [1979]), Were They All Men?. An Examination of Sex Roles in Prehistoric Society, AmS-Varia, Museo Arqueológico de Satavanger, Satavanger.

 

Bolger, Diane (ed.) (2013), A Companion to Gender Prehistory. Col. Blackwell Companions to Anthropology, Wiley-Blackwell.

 

Brück, Joanna (2021), “Ancient DNA, kinship and relational identities in Bronze Age Britain”, Antiquity, 95 (379): 228-237; https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.216

 

Cintas Peña, Marta (2020), La desigualdad de genero en la prehistòria ibérica. Una aproximación multi-variable. BAR International Series 2990, Oxford [tesis doctoral original de 2018 disponible en https://idus.us.es/handle/11441/77665

 

Cintas-Peña, Marta, Garrido Pena, Rafarl, Herrero-Corral, Ana M.; Flores, R.; Waterman, Anna J.; Díaz-Zorita, Marta; Díaz del Río, Pedro; Peate, David W. (2023), “Isotopic Evidence for Mobility in the Copper and Bronze Age Cemetery of Humanejos (Parla, Madrid): a Diachronic Approach Using Biological and Archaeological Variables”, Journal of Archaeological Method & Theory, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-023-09633-6

 

Colomer, Eulàlia; González, Paloma; Montón, Sandra; Picazo, Marina (comp.) (1999), Arqueología y teoría feminista. Estudios sobre mujeres y cultura material en arqueología. Icaria-Antrazyt, Barcelona.

 

*Coltofean-Arizancu, Laura; Gaydarska, Bisserka; Matić, Uroš (2021), Gender stereotypes in archaeology. A short reflection in image and text. Sidestonepress, descàrrega gratuïta en línia https:// https://www.sidestone.com/books/gender-stereotypes-in-archaeology

 

* Conkey, Margaret W. i Spector, Janet F. (1984), “Archaeology and the Study of gender”, Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, 7, pàgs. 1-38.

 

Coto, Maria; Delgado, Lara; López, Lourdes, Martín, Jesús; Pastor, Ana; Ruiz, Apen; Yubero, María (2020), Informe sobre el acoso sexual en arqueología (España). Barcelona, Granada y Madrid. DOI: 10.5281 /zenodo.3662763. https://zenodo.org/record/3662763#.YMCuZ27tZ0s

 

Crown, Patricia L. (ed.) (2000), Women and Men in the Prehispanic Southwest. Labor, power and prestrige. School of American Research Press, Santa Fe.

 

Davis-Kimball, Jeannine (2002), Warrior women. An archaeologist’s search for history’s hidden heroins. Warner Books, New York.

 

Díaz-Andreu, Margarita i Sørensen, Mary Louise Stig (1998), Excavating Women. A History of Women in European Archaeology. Routledge, London.

 

Dowson, Thomas A. (1998), “Homosexualitat, teoria queer i arqueologia”, Cota Zero, 14, pàgs. 81-87.

 

Escoriza, Trinidad (2006), “Mujeres, vida social y violencia. Política e ideología en el arte rupestre levantino”, Cypsela, 16, pàgs. 19-36.

 

* Escoriza, Trinidad; González, Andrea; Castro, Pedro (2015), “Representaciones figurativas, mujeres y arqueología”, Menga, 6, pàgs. 17-32.

 

Esparza, Ángel; Palomo-Díez, Sara; Velasco-Vázquez, Javier; Delibes, Germán; Arrroy-Pardo, Eduardo; Salazar García, Domingo (2017), “Familiar kinship? Palaeogenetic and isotopic evidence from a triple burial of the Cogotas archaeological culture (Bronze Age, Iberian Peninsula)”,  Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 36(3), pàgs. 223-242.

 

Filipek, Kori Lea; Roberts, Charlotte A.;  Montgomery, Janet; Gowland, Rebecca L. ; Moore, Joanna; Tucker, Katie; Evans, Jane A. (2022), Creating communities of care: Sex estimation and mobility histories of adolescents buried in the cemetery of St. Mary Magdalen leprosarium (Winchester, England)”, American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 178(1), pàgs. 108-123; https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24498

 

* Garofalo, Evan M. y Garvin, Heather M. (2020), “The confusion between biological sex and gender and potential implications of misinterpretations”, en Klales, Alexandra R. (ed.), Sex estimation of the human skeleton: history, methods and emerging techniques biological sex, Academic Press, Londres, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815767-1.00004-3

 

Geller, Pamela (2021), Theorizing bioarcheology, Springer, Cham

 

Gero, Joan M.; Conkey, Magaret (eds.) (1991), Engendering Archaeology. Women and Prehistory. Blackwell, Oxford.

 

González Marcén, Paloma; Montón, Sandra; Picazo, Marina (2008), “Towards an archaeology of maintenance activities”, en Montón Subías, S. i Sánchez Romero, M. (eds.), Engendering Social Dynamics: The Archaeology of Maintenance Activities. BAR Internacional Series 1862, Oxford, pàgs. 3- 8.

 

Grömer, Karina (2016), The Art of Prehistoric Textile Making: The development of craft traditions and clothing in Central Europe. Natural History Museum, Viena. http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=604250&fbclid=IwAR2WmepKKCeIkP9RZW3OOJYE_UKPXNpvZtIfrX9WBcsQW_QPgPTotLgulqY

 

Hernando, Almudena (2012), La fantasía de la individualidad. Sobre la construcción sociohistórica del sujeto moderno. Katz Editores, Madrid.

 

Hollimon, Susan E. (2017), “Bioarchaeological approaches to non binary genders. Case studies from Native North America”, en Sabrina C. Agarwal y Julie K. Wesp (eds.), Exploring Sex and Gender in Bioarchaeology. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, pàgs. 51-69.

 

* Koch, Julia Katharina; Wiebke Kirleis (eds.) (2020), Gender Transformations in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies. Sidestone Press, Leiden. Lectura  en línia i descàrrega oberta https://www.sidestone.com/books/gender-transformations-in-prehistoric-and-archaic-societies

 

Lerner, Gerda (1986), The Creation of Patriarchy, Oxford University Press [traducción al castellano en Crítica, Barcelona, 1990, La creación del patriarcado].

 

López Bertrán, Mireia (2014), ”Cossos i gèneres: perspectives d’anàlisi i aplicacions a l’arqueologia”, Saguntum Extra 15 (en Desmuntant Lara Croft. Dones, Arqueologia i Universitat), pàgs. 33-39.

 

López Varela, Sandra L. (2023), Women in Archaeology. Intersectionalities in Practice Worlwide. Springer, Cham.

 

Lull, Vicente; Rihuete, Cristina; Risch, Roberto; Bonora, B.; Celdrán, E.; Fregeiro, Mª I.; Molero,C.; Moreno, A.; Oliart, C.; Velasco, C. (2021), “Emblems and spaces of power during the Argaric Bronze Age at La Almoloya, Murcia”, Antiquity, 95(380): 329-348. http://doi:10.15184/aqy.2021.8

 

Luneau, Élise (2015), “Les relations de genre en Asie centrale protohistorique: redéfinition et discussion”, Les Nouvelles de l’Archéologie, 140, pàgs. 28-34; http://doi.org/10.4000/nda.2989

 

Martínez Pulido, Carolina (2012), La senda mutilada. La evolución humana en femenino. Biblioteca Nueva-Minerva, Siglo XXI, Madrid.

 

Moral de Eusebio, Enrique (2014), “¿Es el sexo al género lo que la naturaleza a la cultura? Una aproximación queer para el análisis arqueológico”, Arqueoweb, 15, pàgs. 248-269.

 

Nelson, Sarah H. (2006), Handbook of Gender in Archaeology. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek.

 

Novak, Shannon (2006), “Beneath the façade: a skeletal model of domestic violence”, en Gowland, Rebecca y Knüsel, Christopher (eds.) (2006), Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains, Oxbow Books, London, pàgs. 238-252.

 

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* Prados, Lourdes i López Ruiz, Clara (eds.) (2017), Museos arqueológicos y género. Educando en igualdad. Servicio de Publicaciones-Universidad Autónoma de Madrd.

 

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* Saini, Angela (2023), The Patriarchs. The Origins of Inequality. Beacon Press, Boston.

 

*  Sanahuja Yll, Mª.Encarna (2002), Cuerpos Sexuados. Objetos y Prehistoria. Cátedra, col. Feminismos, Madrid.

 

* Sánchez Romero, Marga (2022), Prehistorias de mujeres. Destino, Barcelona.

 

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Software

Word, Excel, Power Point, Teams, PDF reader


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed