Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology in Biblical Studies Teaching (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)

36 11l::"IWEENTEXTANDARTIFACT

makeitdifficulttorecoverina llsefulandsystematicwaytheartifactsof

dailylife,especiallyastheypertaintogender.Despitetheubiquityand

abundanceofhouseholds,thebUildingsthemselvesandtheirassociated

artifaClsareexcavated,recorded,andpublishedinwaysthatserveinterests

intypologyandchronology,thatis, inrelativeconstructs,ratherthanin

waysthatservetheinterestsofknowingaboutthepeoplewholivedinthe

housesandusedtheobjects.AsMicheleDaviauhasnotedintheimroduc-

lion toherbook on houses in BronzeAge Palestine, publicationsin

Syro-PaleslinianarchaeologytendtoillUSlnHeceramicandartifactua[mate-

rialsinstylisticgroupings'dtherthaninlocusgroups.llWithoutbeingable

torecoverthepresence,amount,andspatialdistributionofartifactsthat

can be associated with women's activities, the task ofreconstructing

women'srolesinandcontributionstotheirhouseholdsandcommunitiesis

challengingatbest.

Forexample,theartifactsoftextileproduction,suchasspindlewhorls

andloomweights,arearguablytheremainsofafemale-dominatedeco-

nomic;KtivitycarriedoutinhOllseholds.^12 However,usuallyonlyafew

examplesofsuchartifactsarepresentedinthepublicationsofmostsites,

andthetotalnumberofsuchobjectsisrarelymentioned.Moreover,their

findspotsandthenatureofthelociinwhichtheywerefoundarealmost

neverreportedor,atbest,;:lredifficulttorecovergiventheorganization

and interestsofmostarchaeologinll pllhli,;lIions, which<Ire ge::lred 10

typologiesr.Jtherthansynchronicfeatures.Anumberofyearsago,Ihada

modestgranttoworkontheartifactsoftextileproduction.Inherwritten

reportofhersearchfordata,thegraduatestudentwhoassistedmeinthis

projectstatedthat"it'sshockingtheamountandkindofinformationthat

arcleftalit."

Usingarchaeologicaldatatoinformourinterestsinwomen'slivesin

thebiblicalperiodisdifficuhnotonlybecauseofthenatureoftheexca-

vatedmaterialsand thewaytheyare reportedbutalsobecauseofthe

interpretiveprocessnecessarytomovefromartiFacttoperson.Tobegin

with,thatmoveisalmostneverattempted.TheartiFaClSandbuildingsof

dHilylifesomehowremaindisembodied-separatedfromthosewhoused

themandevokingalmostnointerestinwho(femaleormale)usedthem

11 1'.M.Michl-IeDa\'j;tu.Ilous{'Sand1beirl'ilmislJillgsil/IJrmlzeAgePalestineOSOT!
ASORMonographSeries8;Sheffield:JSQTI'res~,1993),26--7.
12 CarolMeyer~,"l\lalerialRem:tinsandSod;!1Rclalion~:Women'~CultureinAgrarian
lIousehold~oflheIronAge,"inSymbiosis,Symbolism.alldIhePowerofIhe1"ml:Cal/aan,
AIIClemIsmel,WillJhelrNCIp,bborsfromI/)el.lI/eIJrolizeAgeIhrollghKomal/Pah'Slill/:(ed
w.G.Dever;ll1dS.Gilin;Winon~1..:lke,tnd.:EiscnlmHlllS,2003),432-34;ElizabethWayland
Barber, \HmwnsIf'ork--1beFirst20JXXJlears:Womell,Clot}),all(/SoclelyillEarlyTimes
(NewYork:Norton,t994).