The History of Archaeology: Looking to the Past to Unravel Sexual Harassment in the Present

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In archaeology, sexual harassment has become a defining part of our culture and affects many professionals across all subfields. This paper is a part of ongoing research that focuses on the history of archaeology as a way to understand sexual harassment in our culture, and to find ways to change this aspect of our culture moving forward. Our field, like many in academia, is centered on mentor/mentee relationships. These relationships not only facilitate the passing of professional skills on to the next generation of archaeologists but also allow mentors to personally acculturate mentees into the culture of archaeology. Our system of informal apprenticeship creates a chain of personal mentorship and personal acculturation that allows past archaeologists to continue participating in the culture of archaeology. This creates a present culture that still allows sexual harassment. To understand how to face the prevalence of sexual harassment in archaeology, we first have to understand how it became so deeply rooted in our culture. This paper explores the history of archaeology as a resource for present and future change.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37005.0