Constructing Archaeology: Moving Sex/Gender and Sexuality Research from the Periphery to the Center

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

The majority of archaeological projects neglect sex/gender and sexuality research due to a social construction within our community that relegates these topics to the periphery of archaeological discourse. This session aims to move sex/gender and sexuality studies from the periphery to the center by examining the implementation of such research in a variety of archaeological projects with differing regional foci and research goals. The papers in this session impress upon the archaeological community that such lines of inquiry should be routine in classroom instruction, field work, and lab analysis. The research presented addresses new theoretical engagements, methodological approaches, and interdisciplinary work that allow for a practical approach to the investigation of sex/gender and sexuality constructs in past communities. The diverse approaches illustrate that sex/gender and sexuality is still, and will remain, an important topic that anyone studying the past should, at the very least, consider.