The Archaeological Challenge of Gender asks, what do we know about the relations between men and women in past societies, and on what basis is this knowledge built? Although sources of data are meagre and often indirect, this book plays particular attention to exploring gender relations in a way that acknowledges its complexity.

Contributors show how difficult questions on gender relationships in past societies are, avoiding preconceived ideas and naive reasoning. The book starts with a grounding introduction that takes readers through questions such as: what is gender archaeology? What are its objectives and methods, but also its shortcomings and dead ends? How can social anthropology contribute to our knowledge of the gender relations of disappeared societies? In what way have these real or, more often, supposed gender relations been put at the service of a discourse on the present society? Chapters then tackle specific themes using case studies from around the globe that highlight common issues, controversy and methodological problems.

Taking a critical approach and addressing the way knowledge is constructed in this field, this book is for students and researchers in Archaeology, Anthropology and Gender Studies.