Ethnoarchaeology of Subsistence Space and Gender: A Subarctic Dene Case

Abstract

The interplay of gender and spatial organization of labor receives little attention in archaeological discussions of huntergatherer society. To help remedy this situation, our ethnoarchaeological research among subarctic Dene (Chipewyan) communities employs a gender-resource mapping approach, including the spatial dimension of hunting for a complex of major subsistence resources. Analysis reveals both profound differences and interconnections between female and male hunters as they procure and process materials and move across the landscape in the sociological context of three team types. The data offer a means of modeling gender dynamics in archaeological contexts as well as rectifying the often invisible role of women in archaeological interpretations of hunting in high-latitude societies. An analysis of historical shifts between “bush-centered” and “village-centered” hunts demonstrates how both women's and men's behavior can be incorporated in site formation processes and general subsistence settlement models, such as Binford's forager/logistical collector framework.