Convenors: Sandra Lorena Lopez Varela (Mexico), Anne Pyburn (USA), Teresita Majewski (USA)
Nearly 35 years ago, Joan M. Gero and Margaret W. Conkey’s groundbreaking work, Engendering Archaeology (1991), spurred a rapid surge of interest in women and gender within archaeology. By introducing critical feminist perspectives, it challenged androcentric interpretations that have long constrained a more comprehensive understanding of human history. Yet, despite these intellectual strides, many of these biases still persist, continuing to distort our perception of the past.
Featuring Women at Work is a theme created to ignite critical discussions on how prevailing narratives continue to reinforce evolutionary arguments and genetic determinism, and the persistence of patriarchy as a seemingly natural framework for interpreting societies—both past and present. In response, this theme seeks to examine how gender and its representation are woven into archaeological research, incorporating new methodological and theoretical approaches to deepen our understanding of the intersection between gender and biological sex in past societies.
This theme is particularly interested in research that challenges Western-centric narratives and the colonial structures embedded in academic archaeological research and heritage management. It welcomes contributions that explore the broader impact of gendered research—how it reshapes our interpretations of the past, disrupts current power structures, and guides the future trajectory of both archaeology and society. It invites discussions rooted in archaeological sciences, anthropological methods (including ethnoarchaeology), and theoretical approaches that reveal the gendered dimensions of production, labor, and material culture in both historical and contemporary societies. Contributions under this theme seek to redefine, for example, the gendered dimensions of traditional production practices, addressing the intersectionalities between making and identity, and the broader socio-economic-political forces shaping them.
A key focus of this theme is to conduct introspective examinations of women’s contributions to research in both the academic and heritage management spheres. It aims to highlight how these contributions often overshadow the significant, yet frequently overlooked, roles of local and Indigenous women—both professional and non-professional. Despite facing ongoing challenges, these women have shared valuable traditional and academic knowledge that remains foundational to archaeological interpretation and the discipline’s development.
In line with this, this theme would like to critically examine the impact of current collaborative strategies on women’s socioeconomic and political realities, while evaluating the integration of heart-centered practices into archaeological and heritage management, aiming to foster more inclusive and meaningful engagement with women across diverse communities. For these recent efforts shed light on broader biases in academic archaeology and heritage management practices that extend beyond gender and professional barriers, underscoring the urgent need for more inclusive, fair, and equitable approaches. By bringing together academic archaeologists and heritage management practitioners, this theme promotes a more comprehensive and multi-faceted understanding of the women who have shaped—and continue to shape—the field of archaeology.
Contacts:
Sandra Lorena Lopez Varela
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
slvarela@comunidad.unam.mx
K. Anne Pyburn
Indiana University Bloomington, USA
apyburn@iu.edu
Teresita Majewski
Statistical Research Inc, USA
tmajewski@sricrm.com
THEME 26 SESSIONS
T26/Session 01: Gender and the Revolution in Archaeology
T26/Session 02: Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Burial Representation in Archaeology
T26/Session 03: Reframing Gendered Production: Intersections Between Making and Identity
T26/Session 04: Gendered Perspectives in Archaeology and Heritage Across Time and Space