"Domestic domain" and the evaluation of women's work in past societies

Some of the activities carried out by women in practically all societies form the cornerstone upon which daily and long-term reproduction of human communities depend. Despite the crucial character of these activities, they have been considered minor and repetitive by most scholars and have seldom found a place in mainstream archaeological discourse. Only very recently (since the early nineties), and stemming mainly from Gender Studies approaches, have these activities begun to be considered important in archaeological analyses, which in turn has led to the construction of the "domestic domain" as an independent analytical category.

This still under investigated area 'domestic domain' needs further investigation to gauge its full implications for archaeology as a discipline. This session will include different approaches evaluating and challenging this concept:

- theoretical approaches to the study of the "domestic domain".
- space/s and time/s associated with this sphere.
- the articulation of the domestic sphere of production within the general context of social production and reproduction.
- studies of specific realms of production encompassed by the term "domestic" activities (for instance, feeding, public health, socialization of the children, etc).
- concrete methodologies and analytical techniques to study this sphere of production.

"What needs to be done everyday": the creation of maintenance activities

This paper will stress the fact that women have traditionally dedicated an important part of their time in adult life to the creation and maintenance activities of society. In order to perform these activities, women have developed through history networks and practices of relationships with other women and also with men. We intend to point out two main aspects related to this argument: the first one has a sociological content and the second one will be developed in connection with archaeology.

In most societies women have had the primary responsibility in children's sustenance and welfare. The study of historical and contemporary women-headed households shows that to maintain their families women develop strong networks of support that imply a specific kind of social relationship traditionally relegated in historical and archaeological research.

On the other hand, the existence of local networks of social relations are best shown in the realm of those activities that organize and allow the reproduction of daily life. In this sense, the archaeological record, far from representing features of an abstract social structure, should be considered as the best indicator of specific processes of this human agency.

Contested space: a discussion of gendered household division in Ancient Greece

It is a stated ideal in Classical literature that women remained within the confines of the family house and had few legitimate reasons for leaving it bounds, to fetch water, attend festivals or funerals, and to help neighbours and friends.

Classical archaeology has perpetuated the notion of the ancient Greek house being spatially divided according to gender, providing separate areas for the men and the women of the household. 'Andrones' or men´s quarters have been identified and associated with drinking parties and meetings while so-called 'women´s quarters' (gunaikontes) remain enigmatic. These are thought to have been upstairs, and so conveniently absent from the archaeological record, or limited to 'loom rooms', when these are found. Though, women may well have spent most of their time in a single room, even to distance themselves from the presence of non-kinsmen, is both impractical and unlikely.

A strict dichotomised 'genderd' division of space continues through modern scholarship. I propose to develop the work of Nevett and Jameson, and suggest a more fluid use of space within the ancient Greek house, based on time and circumstance as opposed to simple male/female gender divisions.

Identifying households in Neolithic Greece: conceptions and misconceptions
 

The domestic domain in its own merit has very rarely formed a subject of research in prehistoric archaeology.

I will outline the broad interdisciplinary debate that drew attention to this long neglected sphere, with an emphasis on the notion of household. Furthermore, I will attempt to show the relevance of this theoretical background using evidence from the Greek Neolithic.

Craftsmen and craftswomen? Everyday life and stone tool production in Neolithic Greece

It has been argued for long that craft specialization has played a major role in the changing social structuring during the Neolithic of Greece. However, in the various studies concerned with the social significance of technological activities there has been little discussion on the possibility of identifying gender roles and meaning in the everyday life of the communities. Work on the microscale of the domestic, household activities and their relationship with the public or communal arena has been very restricted, if it exists at all, whereas technological practicing is viewed in terms of rather solidified contexts, mainly of economic character.

In this paper I will attempt to focus on people as actors in the everyday life of the community, and I will discuss the feasibility of viewing gender attitudes, by looking at the intra-site variation of strategies involved in chipped stone production and use.

Was there a 'domestic domain' in the English Early Bronze Age?

The develoment of a spatially and functionally distinct 'domestic domain' in modern British society is the product of a historically-specific set of gender relations. In the modern western world, the domestic sphere is separated and marginalised from other areas of practice. The home is characterised as private and passive, the locus of reproduction and consumption, and as 'woman´s place'. The universality of such a 'domestic domain' has beed questioned by anthropologist who have demonstrated that other societies do not draw such a categorical distinction between domestic, ritual, political and economic practice.

The archaeological invisibility of Early Bronze Age settlements is one of the classic problems of English Bronze Age studies. I propose that this is not a 'real' feature of the archaeological record but results from the problematic assumption that a distinct 'domestic domain' existed in the Early Bronze Age. I argue that a spatially or functionally distinct category of domestic sites cannot be identified. Instead, evidence for food activities that archaeologist might usually label as 'domestic' (such as food preparation and consumption) are found at a whole range of morphologically different sites. This suggests that Early Bronze Age people did not have a conceptual category equivalent to our notion of the 'domestic'. This has important implications for gender relations. In particular, the notion of women as passive reproducers, spatially removed from the active, public world of men centred on the productive, political and ritual activities cannot be supported.

Moving house: altered visions of the domestic in the Neolithic of Europe

'Domestication' (in its broadest sense) and 'the domestic' are concepts by which the Neolithic is frequently defined and recognised. The house, as the focus of domestic life, has therefore been considered to be a material expression of the economic, social and symbolic organisation of Neolithic culture. However, because of our tendency to impose normative concepts of house and household we are in danger of failing to acknowledge the variety of ways in which Neolithic communities organised their settlements and social relationships. By considering some of the different modes of spatial organisation evident across Europe and the Near East, I will argue that the Neolithic shows a diversity of responses to processes of domestication which challenge traditional concepts like 'village', 'farming', 'sedentism' and 'house' -familiar ideas whose origins should in fact be sought in much later periods of prehistory.

The homecoming of religious practice in the Netherlands

Selective use of data and presuppositions about what to accept as religious have caused a focus on male public domain in the research of the prehistory of the Netherlands. By doing so, they have neglected and ignored evidence that might indicate religious practice in the domestic domain. This putting aside of the domestic domain in research on religious practice has also led to the exclusion of women in these practices. New approaches to the data and new points of attention at excavations may led to a more balanced view in which the domestic domain and women can also take part

Feeding societies: cooking as foregrounding social dynamics

Activities related with women´s work and the sphere of women´s social experiences have traditionally been undervalued or misunderstood in many archaeological studies. However, these activities are fundamental both to keeping the matrix of social life going on and in foregrounding social dynamics. Feeding and cooking, some of the activities more consistently performed by women in most known societies, illustrate these claims.

In this paper, we will discuss the sphere of food production and consumption and redefine some aspects related with fundamental concepts such as food.