Gender in African Prehistory

Gender in African Prehistory provides methods and theories for delineating and discussing prehistoric gender relations and their change through time. Sites studied range from Egypt to South Africa and Ghana to Tanzania, while time periods span the Stone Age to the period just prior to colonialization.

About the Author :
Susan Kent is Professor of Anthropology at Old Dominion University.

Review :
Gender in African Prehistory is the first attempt to focus archaeological research on this theme in Africa. Susan Kent should be commended for the bringing us the first edited volume to focus on gender in African archaeology. <... Gender in African Prehistory also contributes greatly to the discipline in its focus on social relations as impetus for cultural change.... Gender in African Prehistory is aimed at archaeologists, but anyone interested in the topic should find it useful. <... Kent demonstrates that everyone can—and should—incorporate gender into research on ancient cultural systems and culture change. There is much food for thought here.... A significant contribution to a growing body of literature on the archaeological analysis of gender roles and concepts, and a very welcome addition to the corpus of Africanist archaeological texts. Kudos to Kent and her contributors for explicitly considering the relevance of gender to the contours of African prehistory....The spatial, temporal, and topical coverage is extremely broad, making the volume attractive to practically anyone interested in African prehistory, ethnoarchaeology or its recent colonial past. This is a welcome book. It draws attention to gender-specific research going on in African archaeology and some of the reasons why gender has not been at the forefront of reasearch there. <...The editor and those who wrote for this volume are to be applauded for putting together what surely will be a well-read first step toward taking gender and other social and cognitive issues to the center of African archaeologies. Susan Kent should be commended for the bringing us the first edited volume to focus on gender in African archaeology. <... Gender in African Prehistory also contributes greatly to the discipline in its focus on social relations as impetus for cultural change. Gender in African Prehistory is aimed at archaeologists, but anyone interested in the topic should find it useful. <... Kent demonstrates that everyone can—and should—incorporate gender into research on ancient cultural systems and culture change. There is much food for thought here. Gender in African Prehistory brings together the work of a number of excellent scholars who have devoted considerable thought to issues of gender relations in past African societies, their real and possible manifestations in the archaelogical record, and the best methods to tease out relevant data. A very strong volume. The articles are interesting and challenging in their own right and, together, they become a vibrant and articulate concern with developing approaches that bring the richness out of the archaeological record without framing it within any set discourse, be it colonial or gender.