module 3 review

Question 1

Androcentrism

Answer 1

Human life is perceived from a male perspective without considering or describing the position or activity of the other sex or gender. As opposed to gynocentrism (female centred)

Question 2

Artefactual sex

Answer 2

Sex assignment based on the accompanying artifacts in a burial or other archaeological context (compare with biological sex)

Question 3

Biological sex

Answer 3

Sex determined by key biological indicators in the skeletal remains (compare with artefactual sex).

Question 4

Heteronormativity

Answer 4

A view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation.

Question 5

Matriarchy

Answer 5

A society ruled by women.

Question 6

Sexual division of labour

Answer 6

How societies delegate different work or activities for males and females

Question 7

“Venus figurine”

Answer 7

The first human images from the European Upper Paleolithic period (~27,000-21,000 BCE) these palm-sized statuettes have large breasts, abdomens, and buttocks, and small heads, arms, and legs.

Question 8

What modern myth about the past may an archaeological focus
on gender reassess?

Answer 8

An archaeological focus on gender provides a lens for
reassessing modern myths about the past that single out men as
the prime movers of cultural change. As some archaeologists
seek to reinstate women as agents and as subjects, widely held
assumptions about “mankind” and “man’s past” are challenged
by a focus on women’s involvement in production, politics, ritual
performance, and the generation of symbol systems in past
societies

Question 9

Note some of the areas of study of a feminist-informed
archaeology

Answer 9

Rather than assuming gender uniformity, archaeologists, like
cultural
anthropologists working in contemporary societies, have
documented how class,
race, and age may divide women from each other or link
certain men and
women opposition to other

Question 10

What is the ideological message about Venus figurines conveyed
in most textbooks?

Answer 10

most textbooks convey the same ideological message in their
treatment of Venus
figurines—adult male humans are and have always been
fascinated by women’s
bodies and view them as signs of fertility.

Question 11

What is the main feminist concern about this ideological message?

Answer 11

eminist analysis of the figurines suggests alternative explanations
regarding their production, functions, and symbolism, and serves
as a
warning that “reinforcing present cultural stereotypes by
projecting them
into the past allows whole generations of students to believe that
our
present gender constructs are eternal and unchanging

Question 12

What is meant by the “myths of matriarchy”?

Answer 12

Myths of past matriarchy exist in both western and nonwestern
societies. It is described as a history of humankind that passed
from a state of primitive communal marriages, through mother
right, or a rule of women, to patriarchy

Question 13

What common theme is shared by these myths?

Answer 13

women’s loss of power through moral failure. The myths describe
a past society in which women held power; however, through their incompetence, the rule of women was eventually replaced
by patriarchal relationships

Question 14

How do these reinforce current social relations?

Answer 14

by justifying male dominance

Question 15

Outline the three goals for feminist archaeology

Answer 15

gender-inclusive reconstructions of past human behavior, the
development of a specific paradigm for the study of gender, and
anexplicit effort to eliminate androcentrism in the content and mode of
presentation of archaeological research

Question 16

What did archaeologists traditionally rely on to support their
assumptions they made about gender in the past?

Answer 16

The majority of archeologists work in societies in the more distant
past that did not use writing, and so have to rely entirely on what
can be said from the physical evidence alone

Question 17

What did the new generation of archaeologists in the 1970’s
question about gender?

Answer 17

They questioned the universality of many assumptions about
gender

Question 18

In terms of biology and gender, what is the concern of employing
only two categories, male and female, to sexual anatomy?

Answer 18

f there were only two categories, male and female, everyone
would have to be assigned to one or the other. Gender assignment has typically relied on external anatomical
differences: genitalia.

Question 19

What does a bioarchaeologist analyze?

Answer 19

b) What does a bioarchaeologist analyze?
the study h skeletal remains, zooarchaeologists, categories sexes
from other characteristics: height and robusticity (bone size and
thickness)human remains in archaeological context.

Question 20

Briefly describe the spectrum of categories that bioarchaeologists
divide their adult samples into.

Answer 20

From clearly female to clearly male, with possible female,
possible male, and intermediate groups in between

Question 21

Briefly describe the challenges of using DNA testing to determine
the genetic sex of skeletons

Answer 21

it won’t make it possible to assign sexes to two categories: ○either
male or female.○Small number of human beings do not only
have xx or xy chromosomes but may have a third sex
chromosome

Question 22

Define intersectionality and provide examples of intersecting forms
of identity.

Answer 22

Sex isn’t always the most important factor in the kind of life
people lived. Some examples:○Where the person grew up and if they
migrate, what diet they were accustomed to eat, whether protein
came from plants, fish, or land animals.○Privileged and the
nobles.○Men ate more maize but sometimes there is no sex difference

Question 23

n terms of sexuality, what is the first line of evidence for ancient
sexualities?

Answer 23

Imagery: whether a carved in stone, modeled in clay, painted or
drawn, human beings have a long history of recording sexual
acts

Question 24

How do archaeologists investigate the “subjective experience” of
sexualities?

Answer 24

Archaeologists draw on ethnographic and historical analogies,
not so much to explain what sexuality must have been like in
other times and places, but what the sexual activity seen in
sexual imagery might have implied for people in the societies.

Question 25

sing the example of sexual relations between older men and
younger boys in Classical Greek art and texts, briefly describe the
concerns with calling these practices “homosexuality”

Answer 25

It would be ignoring the historical situation. Older men were
expected to have sex with younger boys. Adult males were not
accepted to have sex with adult males

Question 26

Using the example of sexually explicit imagery on Moche pottery
vessels, briefly describe how these explicit sex scenes have been
interpreted to tell us about how the Moche understood people.

Answer 26

Recent scholars have been able to argue that the explicit sex
scenes on the moche pots tell us about how the moche
understood people. ●Sexual acts of all kinds transfer fluids from
one body to another, and keep the substancesthat gave life to
people moving from ancestors to adults to children who mature
to become adults and continue the cycle.

Question 27

Outline what challenges based in contemporary “queer theory”
have argued about sexuality.

Answer 27

Ignoring the abundant evidence of sexuality offered by
archaeology allowed the creation of a very narrow story that made
20th century sexual norms seem inevitable

Question 28

In terms of difference, the author discusses the use of analogy in
archaeological interpretations of industry and gender. Briefly
describe the two forms of analogy employed in archaeological
studies

Answer 28

some of the analogies are historical: ○if you know that a
particular contemporary society or historically documented
group lived in an area, you can propose that older
archaeological sites may present the ancestors of the
documented group. Ethnographic settings

Question 29

Briefly describe how archaeologists use local (“specific”) analogy
to assume that spinning and weaving among the Mexica (Aztec)
and Classic Maya were carried out by women.

Answer 29

In the case of spinning and weaving in prehispanic Mexico and Central
America, while the evidence is good for these being female tasks for
the Classic Maya and Postclassic Aztec, the evidence for gendered
labor of this kind in earlier periods is weak. Aztec and Maya cases
provide multiple lines of evidence to support the application of the
modern analogy: images showing women doing these tasks; texts
talking about them as women’s work; and clusters of the tools of these
tasks in household settings

Question 30

Briefly describe how archaeologists use general analogy to
understand Paleolithic hunters of the European Ice Age

Answer 30

a general analogy is created between a known case in a similar
environment, with a similar level of technology, and a similar social
scale, and the archaeological site under study. For example,
understanding Palaeolithic hunters of the European Ice Age does not
rely on specific, local analogy with modern French, Spanish, or
Germans.

Question 31

What is the “Vestonice Venus”?

Answer 31

Among the first such was the figurine of the woman that we saw tossed
into the central fire of the camp at the end of the feast. She was
subsequently discovered on July 13, 1925, during the Moravian Museum’s
excavation under the leadership of Karel Absolon. The workers found her in two unequal pieces

Question 32

As described by the authors, what picture emerged regarding this
earliest ceramic object?

Answer 32

an illustration showing an old man with white hair, a sleeveless shirt made of animal skin, a necklace of teeth, that was carefully sculpting the figurine with a stick of animal bones

Question 33

who most likely carved this object

Answer 33

a woman/ priestess

Question 34

Briefly explain how the author relates this object to fireworks

Answer 34

This suggests two possibilities. one, the ceramicist(s) were extremely
incompetent. liuo, they knew just what they were doing and had no
interest in creating objects that would remain intact but instead were
making objects that would, by design, harden in the flames and explode.
This can be achieved by, among other things, adjusting the wetness of the
clay.
The building of three walls of the kiln suggests that they knew full well that
the figurines would explode, adding to the suggestion that a deliberate
effort was going on—not only the first ceramic objects ever known, but
also perhaps the first example of a kind of fireworks. our description of this
as embodying some sort of ritual is something of an imaginative leap, but
it seems unlikely that such onerous activity would be done out of sheer
frivolity at a time when survival was a full-time job.

Question 35

Briefly explain the String Revolution

Answer 35

tech breakthrough of upper paleolithic euresia
advancements in technique of making tools out of stone (spear points, knives, etc)

Question 36

What are the three certainties about fiber artifacts provided by the
authors?

Answer 36

highly perishable
if found with stone artifacts, fiber outnumbers 20:1
the method by which the fibre artifact was made is evident on the artifact itself

Question 37

In terms of group hunting, how do the authors explain the abundance
and prevalence of bones of small mammals (e.g. hares and foxes) in
Upper Paleolithic camps

Answer 37

arlier workers had noticed the abundance—indeed, prevalence—of bones
of such small mammals as hares and foxes in Upper Paleolithic camps in
eastern and central Europe, but came up with fairly weak suggestions for
the means of hunting them

Question 38

What would be the social implications of this

Answer 38

we know from such modern hunter-gatherer societies as the
Pygmies of the Ituri Forest in Africa’s Congo region that net hunting is a
communal affair involving women, children, and elderly people as well as
adult males. It engages essentially everyone in the group as beaters,
clubbers, or net holders and makes the acquisition of high-energy and
high-protein food (meat) much less dangerous and more dependable. By
adjusting the mesh, they could have caught even smaller forms of life—
birds, even insects. This would ease the problems involved in feeding a
relatively larger aggregation of people by providing a mass harvest in a
short time—a surplus beyond their immediate need that in turn would
make ceremonial feasts possible. Such behavior is noted ethnographically

Question 39

What does the ethnographic record (cross-cultural studies) say about
who (male or female) makes things out of fiber and/or ceramic?

Answer 39

Making things out of fiber is not the sole prerogative of either sex in
ethnographic accounts of small bands or larger tribal societies. More often
than not, for example, men make sandals for themselves and their
families, and it is also fairly clear that in such societies both men and
women know how to produce sandals and other items that use basketry
techniques and materials

Question 40

The authors describe general ideas about so-called “Venus
figurines” (Venuses). What escaped many observers of these
figurines?

Answer 40

ome of these figurines were partly clad. The Venus of Willendorf’s
head, for example, though faceless, did have hair, it seemed, braided and
wrapped around her head. others had little bits of decorations—body
bands, bracelets, minor bits and pieces of material of some sort. But never
mind—they were largely naked and had to represent fertility,
menstruation, the godhead (as goddess), or (giggle) paleoporn

Question 41

The authors note that when partly clad figurines are wearing hats or
caps, the facial details are absent. What do the authors consider this
to suggest?

Answer 41

one thing that seems fairly common to all the partly clad figurines is that
when they wear hats or caps, the facial details are absent. This suggests a
social importance to the headgear, rather than an individual statement of
personal identity. In other words, these various forms of headgear may
speak to a particular status or rank enjoyed by at least some women

Question 42

n terms of the site of Catal Höyük in ancient Anatolia
how did archcaeologists know it was an egalitarian society?

Answer 42

hat after 20 years of excavations archaeologists believe that
Catalhoyuk didn’t structure itself along rigid ideas of gender where the
biology of men and women determined their roles. Instead,
archaeologist Ian Hodder thinks it was an aggressively egalitarian
world where all hierarchies were nonexistent

Question 43

Briefly describe the family for residents of Catal Höyük.

Answer 43

Catalhoyuk’s inhabitants buried their dead under the sleeping
platforms of their houses. And from analyzing their DNA, the wear and
tear on their bones and the soot from their lungs, Ian’s team have
discovered that both men and women ate the same diet and that there
was little gender division of labor or domestic space.
it seems that soon after birth, children were sent to foster or to live in
other houses across the whole community. So the whole community, in
a way, was one great family tied together by many things, including
biological links.

Question 44

What was the most famous find at Catal Höyük

Answer 44

he most famous find from Catalhoyuk was a female figurine, who
many believe was the principal deity of the site’s Neolithic inhabitants.

Question 45

Ancient Sumer, located in the fertile crescent, revealed
irrigated agricultural practices as well as other innovations
(~10:00). Briefly describe the status of women among the
Sumerians

Answer 45

Women had equal status to men in positions of lower such as priests, law, business, family, property, divorce, and education

Question 46

How have the female figurines changed (~13:00)? What do
they symbolically represent?

Question 47

Who is Enheduanna? How did her work help unify
Mesopotamia? (~17:00)

Answer 47

Enheduanna was the daughter of King Sargon the First, who was the first king, in fact, to unite what we call Mesopotamia into a single empire. And she was appointed by her own father to be the en-priestess, as we call it. E, N. The en-priestess of the moon god in the city of Ur. Which was the highest religious appointment in the culture at the time. It was the opinion position in order for the religious world to function. And she was in charge of it all. Enheduanna created the world’s first literary masterwork. A collection of 42 hymns written on clay tablets in praise of all the temples and gods in her father’s empire, and which played a vital role in legitimizing his rule.

Question 48

Although the Code of Hammurabi (~18:00-20:30) did afford
women some privileges what was seen as the ultimate
negative outcome for women?

Answer 48

the code was a blow to women’s economic and sexual freedom. Unlike Sumer, women were forbidden from doing any kind of commercial activity outside the household. But far more damaging, in my opinion, was the power it gave to men over women’s bodies. The law legalized patriarchy. Husbands and fathers now owned the sexual reproduction of their wives and daughters. This meant that women could be put to death for adultery. That virginity was now a condition for marriage. And in the case of rape, it wasn’t just an assault against a woman, it was an economic offense against a man. For example, if his daughter was raped, he suffered the loss of her bride price. She was, in a sense, damaged goods.

Question 49

With the Assyrians becoming the new regional power, the first
veiling law emerged 2000 years before Islam (~23:00). What
was the purpose of veiling for the Assyrians?

Answer 49

to separate class into 5 categories for women from respectable to unrespectable

Question 50

Briefly describe how the concept of the veil changed across
Europe, Asia, and the Middle East

Answer 50

mark of civilization through Greece, Rome and Byzantium, it would become the nun’s habit and the wimple of medieval Europe. In Asia, it would spread to Confucian China and Korea. And in Islam, it would become a mark of class before it became one of faith.

Question 51

How was the veil both a symbol of male control yet also
liberating for women (~27:00-27:40)?

Answer 51

On one level, it is all about male ownership and control. But on another, ironic though it may seem to us, the veil was a way of giving women a liberty and freedom to go outside into the public space without compromising themselves or losing the protection of their husbands

Question 52

On the Orenburg plain in south Russia, archaeologists have
unearthed evidence of nomadic tribes dominated by warrior
horsemen (27:50). What do the Kurgan burials reveal about
the status of women?

Answer 52

that reveal the centrality of women to nomadic culture.

Question 53

What is the significance of burials of women with weapons?

Answer 53

the precariousness of survival negated ideas of segregation or divisions of labor. Women’s roles were not confined to their biological functions or to domestic space.

Question 54

Briefly describe the significance of the Tomb of the Ice
Maiden (~34:00

Answer 54

set of animalistic tattoos which reveal her special status within the group.
most complete set of nomadic clothing ever found.

Question 55

in Ancient Greece (~41:00), how did the myth of the Amazon
women challenge Greek social ideals?

Answer 55

deep paranoia of Athenian society. Independent and free, the Amazons were the antithesis of Greek ideas of social order and citizenship. Slain and subjugated, they are symbols of the triumph of civilization. This time, Greek civilization over barbarian monstrosity.

Question 56

brriefly describe the significance of the Thesmophoria festival
for women (~44:30-46:30)

Answer 56

here Athenian women did have a collective voice was in the religious rituals of the city. From weddings and childbirth to funerals and festivals. Arguably, the most important was Thesmophoria the festival to Demeter, the Greek goddess of fertility and agriculture

it was an ancient fertility rite going back thousands of years. And it was linking female fertility with divine madness. The second, and equally important, was the element of control. Because here, women’s sexuality was being harnessed by the state, in the service of the state. And even though women were being unleashed and told to be free in themselves, actually, they were acting out the wishes of the male polis.

Question 57

What was the most striking symbol of male control in ancient
Athens (~46:35)?

Answer 57

he most striking symbol of male control was once again a piece of fabric. But what may come as a surprise, is that Athens adopted the custom of veiling from ancient Assyria

Question 58

n contrast to the Assyrian use of the veil, what was much
darker about the Athenian use of the veil (49:00)?

Answer 58

A deep phobia of the female body and the idea that women’s inferiority wasn’t man made, but rooted in nature.