The concept of "domesticity" in Magdalenian life

Summary

A number of recent publications about Magdalenian life have used terms such as "domestic" or "household" and their derivations to differentiate between different types of sites or tools, and perhaps also to underscore the fact that archaeology is about people, not just materials. This language also reflects the influence household archaeology has had in expanding studies of sedentary societies. It is not clear, however, that a distinction between domestic and non-domestic activities is appropriate for mobile societies. "Domestic" is typically opposed to "hunting," reinforcing old dichotomies that imply others such as "public–private" and "man–woman." Does "domesticity" add to interpretations of Magdalenian archaeology, or is it a modern conception that over-simplifies aspects of the Magdalenian record?

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Magdalenian social geographies in Western Europe   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage