Anne Teather (University of Sheffield, UK; British Women Archaeologists; a.teather@sheffield.ac.uk ; womeninarchaeology@hotmail.com)

Two decades ago the role of women in the past and present was openly debated. Feminist approaches were welcomed and as a result both attitudes to women, and access for women, altered. However, despite women archaeology undergraduates out-numbering men for much of the last 15 years, women are still poorly represented within higher positions in the discipline at both academic and commercial levels. Furthermore, a lack of attention to these dialogues has led to, in some quarters, a renewed interest in interpretations of women in the past as being passive to a dominant male hierarchy. Indeed, the backlash against gendered approaches in the 1980s and 1990s has now resulted in widespread reluctance to raise feminism as a still relevant topic for interpretation. This session intends to reopen these debates.

We therefore invite papers that focus on archaeological interpretations and on current (political) issues in the discipline, sponsored by British Women Archaeologists (http://britishwomenarchaeologists.org.uk). This newly formed group supports women in the discipline at all levels and proposes to maintain a focus on the challenges that continue to face women today through positive action and providing solutions. This is particularly relevant in light of the 2006 Gender Equality Act which requires public authorities to promote gender equality and elimate sex discrimination. Results of our 2008 national survey will be presented during this session; surveys can still be completed until late October for inclusion in our statistics, details on our website.

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