Gender and Life Stage

Normally after reading an article for anth I can usually tear apart the article and criticize it for being too beat around the bush, too boring, or too data laden, but I actually found this one to be a good balance of physical evidence, comparison between cases, theory, and tables to present the findings. The article I read was 'Rings of life: the role of early metalwork in mediating the gendered life course' by Joanna Sofaer Derevenski. Her strategy in this article was to present the theory she formulated from study and comparison of two sites utilizing early metalwork in the Copper Age of the Carpathian Basin, and present the data from these  two sites in the same location that existed during two different time periods at Tiszapolgar: Bastanga, and middle copper age culture seen in Bodrogkeresztur culture.

Through cross comparison of two different time periods at very similar sites during the Copper Age, the civilizations on the Tiszapulgar sites, Sofaer Deverenski is able to explore the changing role of metalwork in mediating the age - gender distinctions of social identity. Within each time period she focuses on the skeletal remains and grave goods to serve as an indicator of how metal work/metal possessions differed between people of different stages in the life course, and used the distinct changes in the use of certain grave goods as means to formulate her hypotheses that copper goods were used to convey differences within the complex constructions of female and males gendered experiences.

I honestly thought that her approach in using the position of skeletal remains, compared to the copper goods (or lack thereof) to determine the significance and stage of life that person had entered when they were buried was the best way to approach her theoretical investigation. She compared these behaviours and archaeological finds between the Bastanga and Bodrogkeresztur civilizations and was able to find differences and definite distinctions between important life events of the two cultures that helped to create distinctions between the two civilizations in regard to their importance of certain life events.

Overall I found Sofaer Derevenski's article to be very well thought out and very well supported in her use of archeological finds compared to position of skeletal remains in creating the hypotheses that copper goods were used to signify a particular important life stage, and that the sudden change of these finds indicates an ideological change in the conception and importance placed on certain life stages. I really agree with her that by using an absence or change in a particular funerary practice or grave goods can we can  signify a change in beliefs, just as much as the presence of a particular grave good could provide.

I feel a bit like i'm failing by not identifying any dislikes or cons for this article, but I believe that  Sofaer Derevenski did a great job of creating theories and providing enough evidence to convince me that the presence and change in finding certain copper grave goods when compared with the position of skeletal remains can tell us something significant about the life stage they were in, and the possible dichotomy of gendered experiences signified by these copper goods.

Goodbye reading break, hello last month of school! here's something that sums up how I predict my last month to go....




always trying to catch that elusive red dot....

anyways, hope reading break was great for you all! see you next week

Baylie