Spanish Women in a Changing World

Complete or virtual absence of women is a common characteristic in all histories of archaeology, and Spain is no exception in this respect. ¹ Yet in this chapter alone more than 30 women archaeologists are mentioned. Women have been excluded from the dominant discourse, have been almost eliminated from the narration of the development of a discipline, have been hidden, considered as unimportant, almost non-existent. Selection means judgement, judgement made in a specific socio-political climate. We need, therefore, to reflect on what facts have been selected to make women disappear from histories of archaeology: evidence based on publications and participation in open debates ² – areas in which women, it is true, have until recently been little involved. However, women’s absence from the public sphere should not be taken to imply that their contribution to the discipline has been insignificant; their absence from histories of archaeology is unjustified.