ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the concept of heterarchy contributes to archaeology of gender and to a feminist archaeology and how incorporating gender can strengthen the archaeological application of heterarchy. Historically, an archaeology of gender grew from frustration with the invisibility of women, specifically, in accounts of the past. Archaeologists have become more aware of the limitations of a dichotomous model of gender that ignores the possibility of third or fourth gender individuals or multi-gendered individuals, or perhaps non-gendered individuals, in past societies. Gendered archaeology has had a tendency to focus on relationships of dominance and unequal power and agency. By explicitly examining how gender interacts with other aspects of agency, identity and power, archaeologists have the potential to improve specificity in a heterarchical model, something that Elizabeth M. Brumfiel suggests would be an improvement. A group of archaeologists who advocate for what they call “anarchist archaeology” also make reference to heterarchy.
