Durham E-Theses Facing Gender: A Historiographical Analysis of Gender Construction in Iron Age Britain MATIAS, JO ZALEA BURAC How to cite: MATIAS, JO ZALEA BURAC (2015) Facing Gender: A Historiographical Analysis of Gender Construction in Iron Age Britain, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12110/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Durham E-Theses Facing Gender: A Historiographical Analysis of Gender Construction in Iron Age Britain MATIAS, JO,ZALEA,BURAC How to cite: MATIAS, JO,ZALEA,BURAC (2015) Facing Gender: A Historiographical Analysis of Gender Construction in Iron Age Britain, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12106/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Abstract Facing Gender: A Historiographical Analysis of Gender Construction in Iron Age Britain Jo Zalea Burac Matias The aim of this thesis is to understand the ways that gender is continually constructed, perceived and presented in Iron Age Britain. A historiographic analysis uses both classical literature and Iron Age social models to provide the theoretical basis for understanding gender. The use of literature and mortuary data examines the current limits of gendered analysis for Iron Age Britain amd an examination of archaeological reconstructions discusses the actual presentation of gender for the period. Their purpose is to create a well-rounded view of all the influences that drive views of gender, one that is informed by the archaeological material, theory and classical literature, as well as other factors. Though gender bias is present in discussions of gender for Iron Age Britain, gender as a topic is largely absent. Iron Age peoples are mostly discussed as monolithic entities – a group or culture rather than individuals. When gender does present itself, it manifests in male and female binaries, though not necessarily male warriors and female domestics. There is little discussion of gender as it relates to other aspects of identity, such as age and class, except in some recent studies. The male/female binary is largely static over time in British Iron Age literature, as is the presentation of society’s identity, rather than people’s identities. Iron Age Britain is faceless, populated by stock images rather than fully fleshed individuals. The analyses here demonstrate the need to keep examining gender and other identities so that Iron Age society is discussed on both a societal level and a personal level. i ii Facing Gender: A Historiographical Analysis of Gender Construction in Iron Age Britain Two Volumes Volume I Jo Zalea Burac Matias Department of Archaeology Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Durham University 2015 iii Table of Contents Volume I Abstract ............................................................................................................................ i Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................ viii Table of Figures ............................................................................................................. ix Copyright ...................................................................................................................... xiii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... xv Chapter 1: Gender in Iron Age Britain ........................................................................ 1 1.1. Approaching gender ...................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Aims .................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Structure, objectives and methodology of the thesis ........................................................ 3 Chapter 2: An Engendered Archaeology ..................................................................... 7 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 7 2.2. Gender: Theoretical Underpinnings ................................................................................... 8 2.2.1. Gender studies in and beyond the social sciences ...................................................... 8 2.2.2. Gender theory in archaeology ..................................................................................... 9 2.2.3. Major themes and issues in the application of third-wave feminist theory to archaeology ......................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.3.a. Sex and Gender ................................................................................................... 14 2.2.3.b. Performativity and the Archaeological Body ..................................................... 17 2.2.3.c. No more gender? ................................................................................................ 19 2.3. Gender in Iron Age Britain ................................................................................................ 20 2.3.1. Iron Age Britain: men, women or genderless? .......................................................... 20 2.3.2. Material culture and embodied gender .................................................................... 25 2.3.3. Burials and skeletal material ..................................................................................... 26 2.4. Bioarchaeology and Gender ............................................................................................. 29 2.4.1. Gendered activities and the skeleton ....................................................................... 29 2.4.2. Health, disease and isotopic analysis ........................................................................ 31 2.4.3. Trauma, violence and warfare .................................................................................. 32 2.4.4. The sex and gender debate and future research trajectories ................................... 32 2.5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 34 Chapter 3: Gender and Social Models in Iron Age Britain ...................................... 36 3.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 36 3.2. Searching for gender ........................................................................................................ 36 3.2.1. Hawkes and his critics on gender .............................................................................. 38 3.2.2. Structuring Society .................................................................................................... 41 3.2.3. Post-Processual Social Models ............................................................................ 44 3.2.4. Examining the major publications ............................................................................. 46 3.2.5. Discussion .................................................................................................................. 48 iv 3.3. “Celtic” and contemporary society and gender ............................................................... 49 3.3.1. Classical constructions of Iron Age people ................................................................ 50 3.3.1.a References to men, women and children in the classical sources........................ 51 3.3.1.b Masculinity and the Celtic Warrior ..................................................................... 53 3.3.1.c Feasting and gender ............................................................................................. 56 3.3.1.d Druids, religion and gender ................................................................................