ABSTRACT

With nine papers examining a distinct body of archaeological data, Ungendering Civilization offers a much needed scrutiny of the role of women in the evolution of states.

Studying societies including Predynastic Egypt, Minoan Crete, ancient Zimbabwe and the Maya - to determine what the facts actually show, the contributors critically address traditional views of male and female roles, and argue for the possibility that the root historical cause of gender subordination is participation in modern world system, rather than 'innate' tendencies to domesticity and child-rearing in women, and leadership and aggression in men.

With an interdisciplinary potential, students of archaeology, cultural studies and gender studies will find this full of useful information.

 

chapter |46 pages

Rethinking complex society

chapter 1|24 pages

Gendered states

Gender and agency in economic models of Great Zimbabwe

chapter 4|19 pages

Tracing women in early Sumer

chapter 5|20 pages

Leaders, healers, laborers, and lovers

Reinterpreting women’s roles in Moche society

chapter 8|20 pages

Oh my goddess

A meditation on Minoan civilization

chapter 9|18 pages

Ungendering the Maya