AGE - Archaeology and Gender in Europe Community

AGE Board

As in previous years the AGE - Archaeology and Gender in Europe Community carried out a set of activities in 2021 stemming from the initiative of several of its members. Among these, we should highlight the internal meetings aimed to define action strategies that best fit the objects of study, objectives, characteristics and interests of the members of our Community. These meetings have always proved to be very productive and, over the last year, this was demonstrated in the scheduling of initiatives that have been notable for their diversity and pioneering spirit. This gives us confidence that the issues we raise provoke growing interest among an increasingly broad and diverse audience. An interest which, it should be said, has been largely due to the constant updating of information on the AGE website, on Twitter @age_eaa and through emails addressed to AGE members.

In this context, we must highlight the presence, once again assertive, at the annual meetings of the EAA. In fact, the 27th Annual Meeting 2021 (8th - 11th September 2021) held online, included 5 AGE - supported sessions, all of which with a significant audience that greatly contributed to the success of the debates that took place there:

  • n.º 100: “To Gender or not to Gender? Exploring Gender Variations through Time and Space”;
  • n.º 131: “The Place of Queer Theory in Current Archaeological Debates: All T, No Shade?”;
  • n.º 327: “Engendering Public Archaeology”;
  • n.º 343: “The Rise of Patriarchy. An Archaeological View”;
  • n.º 348: “Derivates of Their Men? Alternatives to the ‘Woman Problem’ in mortuary archaeology”.

The pioneering spirit was expressed through two events.

The first one is the AGE Webinar on "Women, heritage and stereotypes" that took place on Saturday 18th September, organized by the AGE co-chair Ana Cristina Martins, with the participation of Paloma González Marcén, Karen Dempsey, Laura Coltofean, Bisserka Gaydarska & Uroš Matić – a first event of this type for our Community. It was included in the official programme of the "National Heritage Days" dedicated in 2021 to the theme "All Inclusive". See Figure 1. The very positive experience and the success of the webinar mean that we plan to continue this practice on other relevant dates of the annual science and technology calendar. If something good came out of the pandemic context that we have been living since 2020, it is how technology brought an almost unsuspected benefit - bringing people together, regardless of their geographic location.

Figure 1 European Heritage Days announcement

Figure 1 European Heritage Days announcement

The second event is the production, publication, and public presentation of the AGE Booklet on Gender Stereotypes in Archaeology. A short reflection in image and text, edited by Laura Coltofean-Arizancu, Bisserka Gaydarska & Uroš Matić and published by Sidestone Press. See Figure 2. The booklet includes 24 commonly encountered gender stereotypes in archaeology, explained and deconstructed in 250 words by archaeologists with expertise on gender in the past and in contemporary archaeology, most of them being members of the Archaeology and Gender in Europe (AGE) Community of the European Association of Archaeologists. In addition, the stereotypes are illustrated by Serbian award-winning artist Nikola Radosavljević.

Figure 2 Booklet cover page for the AGE-Booklet on Gender Stereotypes in Archaeology. A short reflection in image and text, edited by Laura Coltofean-Arizancu, Bisserka Gaydarska & Uroš Matić and published by Sidestone Press.

Figure 2 Booklet cover page for the AGE-Booklet on Gender Stereotypes in Archaeology. A short reflection in image and text, edited by Laura Coltofean-Arizancu, Bisserka Gaydarska & Uroš Matić and published by Sidestone Press.

A booklet that became a reality thanks largely to the patronage support through a significant financial contribution granted by the EAA itself, as well as an action, also precursory in the context of AGE, of crowdfunding campaign lead by Laura Coltofean, Bisserka Gaydarska & Uroš Matić, which far exceeded initial expectations. And the support was not in vain. In fact, a few months after its publication, the book became a work of reference among a diverse audience, thus confirming the timeliness and relevance of the chosen theme. It is not surprising, therefore, that the online booklet launch that took place on Monday, 20th December, between 21.00-22.00 CET, and moderated by AGE co-chair, Ana Cristina Martins, was a success story. A success, not only for the number of attendees, no matter what their time zones, but also for the list of guest speakers, among them Eszter Bánffy, the EAA President.

Finally, the 2021 ended with 28th Annual Meeting 2022 AGE - supported proposal sessions, alongside with a call for papers to an online round table on 15th February 2022 on Motherhood in archaeology & matricentric feminism, organized by the AGE co-chair Katharina Rebay-Salisbury, and hosted by the Austrian Academy of Science.

Currently AGE has 93 members from 23 countries in Europe, America and Oceania and this series of activities consolidated AGE's initial project, visible in the number of membership applications, especially after the Annual Meetings, but also in the scientific vitality revealed by most of its members. Examples of this, among many other outputs, are the 50 conference papers and lectures held between the end of 2020 and 2021, 35 articles, chapters in edited volumes, reports, and books, 15 workshops, four projects, and five surveys.

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