Time, Skill and Craft Specialization as Gender Relations

Abstract

Specialized production activities termed ‘crafts’ have often been linked to archaeological discussions of social organization and status. With each shift in archaeological paradigms the study of crafts and products has changed emphasis. Research has now moved beyond the technical detail to consider the social contexts of production; the production-exchange relationship, technological choices, the ecology of production systems, human agency and social agency (Bradley and Edmonds, 1993; Torrence, 1983, 1986; Lemonnier, 1989, 1993; Arnold, 1988; Johnson, 1989; Dobres and Hoffman, 1994; Miller, 1985; Ingold, 1990). This chapter investigates some of the gendered social contexts of production using the time and the skill involved in production activities as a means of seeing social relationships. The theme is explored in a generalized way illustrated with some more detailed examples. New categories of time and of skill are proposed as a result.

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