Man The Hunter: Feminist Archaeology

Archaeologists develop meaningful questions to answer complexities of past societies. These questions can provide information on food ways, kinships, and purposes of artifacts. Social sciences have began to ask questions about the identity of past individuals, that include gender, class, and sexuality. As a member of social sciences, archaeology has also began to ask similar questions of identity. For years, archaeologists have fought the stereotype of "Man the Hunter" to allow for research questions that explore the roles of women. This movement has inspired gender studies within archaeology that analyzes the relationships between men and women in past societies. Feminist archaeology has also emerged from this movement by focusing solely on

This region is ripe for gender, and general, archaeology since it contains, "...a rich ethnohistorical literature, with detailed descriptions of contact-period societies," as well as plenty of cultural material left behind in the archaeological record [McCafferty & McCafferty 2012: 68]. Investigating the region is not a new phenomena, since it has been studied and excavated for over one hundred years. What is new about the investigations, is the lens researchers choose to look through the evidence. The purpose for the large amount of gender archaeology producing results in the Mesoamerican region is the inconsistencies between the historical record and the archaeological record. Aztec women were portrayed as subordinate compared to Aztec men in early studies, while the ethnohistoric record portrayed women as more active [McCafferty & McCafferty 2012: 68]. Throughout the article, different investigations document female roles in textile productions, spindle whorls, and in artworks. The evidence for women being active members in markets as well as prominent citizens. Investigations have also shown men to be buried with typical female associated grave goods as often as women [McCafferty & McCafferty 2012: 73]. The lines between traditional male and female gender roles are blurred as evidence shows that typical gendered objects are shared and borrowed. The McCafferty article also associates this evidence as being more ideal for possibly the elite class and not necessarily a strict norm adhered by everyone. The important step to move foreword with gender studies in archaeology is to collaborate with other disciplines. Archaeology already borrows theories and methods from hard sciences and social sciences. By continuing to collaborate with social sciences especially, archaeology will benefit in the aid of question identity in the archaeological