Queering the Field: Archaeologies of Sexuality, Gender, and Beyond

Queer as a theoretical tool formalized in the 1980's and 90's amongst debates concerning definitions of gender, sex, and sexuality. Although queer theory began as a way to interrogate heteronormative assumptions around sexual identity and sexual oppression, it more broadly questions any and all notions of fixed difference. The queer movement challenges the very notion that anything is “normal” or stable, from the construction of social identity to institutional structures and practices. In archaeology, this has led to a diverse body of research that includes topics such as family structure, kinship, intersectionality, chronology, social identity, and bodily performance. Although queer archaeology has grown enormously in the last 15 years, it remains at the outskirts (pun intended) of archaeological discourse. In this light, this session explores what queer is and its applicability to archaeological examinations. Session participants will explore recent archaeological case studies using the following questions as a frame: What is queer (queer theory) and why use it in archaeology? Is there a unified sense of what it means to “do” queer archaeology? In what ways has queer theory impacted the field and in what ways can it? And where do we go from here?