Sexual Revolutions: Gender and Labor at the Dawn of Agriculture / Edition 1

by Jane Peterson

Overview

The change from a hunting-gathering lifestyle to one dependent upon farming constitutes a truly 'revolutionary' event in the human career. Most archaeologists agree that how ancient people organized their work and family groups was crucial to the success of early attempts at farming. Yet little serious attention has been paid to the social organization of labor in the prehistoric past. This book addresses that lacuna by investigating sexual divisions of labor. As a case study, Peterson chose the southern Levant of West Asia, where the world's first farming societies emerged some 10,000 years ago. Shattering long held assumptions about women's work that lead to generalizations about gender roles, Peterson shows that gender studies can be both scientific and thoroughly grounded in feminist theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759102576
Publisher:	AltaMira Press
Publication date:	09/18/2002
Series:	Gender and Archaeology , #4
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.87(w) x 8.72(h) x 0.49(d)

About the Author

Jane Peterson is assistant professor of anthropology at Marquette University.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Foreword Part 2 Chapter 1: An Investigation of Labor Patterns Chapter 3 Work Patterns and Sexual Divisions: Historical Background Chapter 4 Social Models in Archaeology: Past and Future Chapter 5 Sex and Gender Terminology Chapter 6 Study Area and Chronology Chapter 7 Organizations Part 8 Chapter 2: Archaeological Evidence from the Southern Levant Chapter 9 Natufian Period Chapter 10 Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period Chapter 12 Chalcolithic Period Chapter 13 Early Bronze I Period Chapter 14 Summary Part 15 Chapter 3: Markers of Occupational Stress Chapter 16 Historical Overview Chapter 17 Structural Changes Chapter 18 Joint Modification Chapter 19 Trauma Chapter 20 Tooth wear, Dental Trauma, and Caries Chapter 21 Musculoskeletal Stress Markers Chapter 22 Summary Part 23 Chapter 4: Occupational Evidence and Hypotheses From the Levant Chapter 24 Extant Studies Chapter 25 Chronological Summary Chapter 26 Conclusions Part 27 Chapter 5: New Musculoskeletal Stress Markers Chapter 28 Materials Chapter 29 Methods Chapter 30 Analytical Techniques Chapter 31 Natufian Results Chapter 32 Neolithic Results Chapter 33 Early Bronze I Results Part 34 Chapter 6: Modeling Changing Labor Scenarios Chapter 35 Integrating MSM with previous activity reconstructions Chapter 36 Activities and Performance Spaces Chapter 37 Models of Sexual Labor Changes with the Advent of Farming Chapter 38 An Engendered Model Part 39 Bibliography Part 40 Index Part 41 About the Author Chapter 42 Neolithic Period

Editorial Reviews

Jane Peterson's new book provides a fresh and provocative look at the dynamic nature of gender-related roles and subsistence changes in the Levant. Her work melds archaeological data with the exciting new field of habitual activity analysis, supplying the reader with a thought-provoking contribution to both bioarchaeology and gender issues.

Diane E. Hawkey

This book is an important one that should be read by all scholars interested in issues of labor and social organization in the archaeological record. Written in a readable and accessible style, it is both a scholarly work and one that can be easily used as a case study in classes. Peterson's work points us in a direction that many other scholars may wish to pursue.

Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research

'Woman's work?' All too often archaeologists and anthropologists bring their cultural baggage with them into the field and laboratory, subconsciously applying gender stereotypes to the problems they are trying to solve. Going beyond the standard rubric of 'putting flesh back on the bones,' Jane Peterson's book puts real muscle into the examination of activity diversity in males and females based on markers of occupational stress that occur on excavated skeletons. Peterson's work presents a well-balanced appraisal of the current status of views of gender/sex labor roles based on archaeological sources, feminist archaeology, and anthropology.

Gary Rollefson

Sexual Revolutions is superb, and, indeed, important. It has considerable significance for both general questions about the archaeology of gender and for more particular concerns about Near Eastern prehistory. Peterson presents a stimulating synthesis of theory and osteological evidence concerning the role of women in the agricultural and urban 'revolutions' of south-west Asia, with the focus on the southern Levant.

Antiquity

Sexual Revolutions provides a perspective on gender and labor that is made possible only from the insight gained from the study of ancient skeletons. Anthropologists have long speculated on the role of women and men in labor, especially in relation to the transition from foraging to farming. Peterson's interesting and compelling study of skeletal markers of activity gives new perspective on the dawn of agriculture and its impact on the lives and lifestyles of women and men. This book is a must read for physical anthropologists, archaeologists, and others interested human behavior, gender, and labor in this key period of human evolution.

Clark Spencer Larsen

Sexual Revolutions provides a perspective on gender and labor that is made possible only from the insight gained from the study of ancient skeletons. Anthropologists have long speculated on the role of women and men in labor, especially in relation to the transition from foraging to farming. Peterson's interesting and compelling study of skeletal markers of activity gives new perspective on the dawn of agriculture and its impact on the lives and lifestyles of women and men. This book is a must read for physical anthropologists, archaeologists, and others interested human behavior, gender, and labor in this key period of human evolution.--Clark Spencer Larsen, (Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University)

Jane Peterson's new book provides a fresh and provocative look at the dynamic nature of gender-related roles and subsistence changes in the Levant. Her work melds archaeological data with the exciting new field of habitual activity analysis, supplying the reader with a thought-provoking contribution to both bioarchaeology and gender issues.--Diane E. Hawkey, (Arizona State University)

'Woman's work?' All too often archaeologists and anthropologists bring their cultural baggage with them into the field and laboratory, subconsciously applying gender stereotypes to the problems they are trying to solve. Going beyond the standard rubric of 'putting flesh back on the bones, ' Jane Peterson's book puts real muscle into the examination of activity diversity in males and females based on markers of occupational stress that occur on excavated skeletons. Peterson's work presents a well-balanced appraisal of the current status of views of gender/sex labor roles based on archaeological sources, feminist archaeology, and anthropology.--Gary Rollefson, (Whitman College)

From the Publisher

In sum, this book, the fourth book in a series on Gender and Archaeology edited by Sarah Nelson, is a gem. It introduces new hard data and judicious interpretation into a subject too often dominated by unsubstantiated but fervently held theories....it's value as a textbook: both readable and scholarly, it is a wonderful demonstration of wha science is good for. In addition to her admirably clear prose, Peterson has selected good graphic and illustrative materials.

American Antiquity

Peterson's substantive results are intriguing.... This is an important piece of work not simply because of its substantive contribution. One of the primary contributions of this study is its skepticism.... Peterson generally makes good and valid use of ethnographic analogy, especially when it comes to materialist generalizations.

Reviews in Anthropology

This book is an important one that should be read by all scholars interested in issues of labor and social organization in the archaeological record. Written in a readable and accessible style, it is both a scholarly work and one that can be easily used as a case study in classes. Peterson's work points us in a direction that many other scholars may wish to pursue.

Bulletin Of The American Schools Of Oriental Research