That shadowy band: The role of women in the development of Australian archaeology

Abstract

The role of women in the development of Australian archaeology is so manifest, and has been so substantial, it hardly seems necessary to devote a paper to it. On the other hand, as the only substantial published history of Australian Aboriginal archaeology does manage to exclude this contribution (Horton 1991; Bowdler 1993), there is clearly a case for indicating what was overlooked. McBryde (1993a:xi) refers to that intrepid yet often shadowy, even invisible, band of women archaeologists, but we would contend that, in Australia, the band has been rather less diaphanous than that. In this paper, we address women's contribution to the development of Australian archaeology in its widest sense. We look at the role of particular individuals in the preprofessional and the professionalisation phases (cf. Moser 1995), Aboriginal and historical archaeology and also archaeology in Papua New Guinea (part of Australia during the Pleistocene, after all), archaeology both within and without the academy, the role of those who have supported the enterprise in a generally anonymous fashion, and the role of Aboriginal women who have engaged with archaeologists in different ways. We also consider whether there are particular kinds of contributions which have been made by women, perhaps because they have been restricted by society and circumstance to certain kinds of task, or whether indeed such perceptions are themselves stereotypical. Obviously, given the space available, this survey will be wide rather than deep, but it is to be hoped some of the issues raised will be pursued elsewhere in greater depth. We do not address the issue of whether women are or have been equal participants in the workforce (see for instance Goulding et al. 1993). In the belief it is more difficult to assess the relative weight of more recent contributions, our survey arbitrarily stops at about 1980. At this time, furthermore, Moser (1995:77) suggests the discipline was securely established as an autonomous profession.

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