"IEYEk.'>:WIlEkEHIEGlkl,';AkE 37and what the gendered paHerns ofuse might reveal about the social
dynamicsofahouseholdandcommunity.Theindividualis USU31lynot
panoftheinvestigativescopeoftheinterprelersofdatainSyro-Palestinian
<llLiJat::ulugy.\'V'ith <trtif<tu~~t:t::lla~kt:y~tudLn)llulugy,tILt:hLJIl1<tIl~ whu
usedthemarevirtuallyignored.Interpretingartifactsinawaythaiis useful
forgenderstudiesandforfindingthewomenofIronAgehouseholdsthus
meansfocusingonthoseanifactsinanew\vay:consideringthegenderof
thosewhousedthem.Thisinvolves,assumingthatthefunctionofobjects
iscorrectlyassessed(forexample,thatadonut-shapedceramicorstone
objectisinfactaloomweightusedintextileproduction),identifyingthe
genderoftheobjects'users.
Herethepresent-mindednessImentionedearliercanbean obsta-
cle. Howcan we know Ihat women ratherthan men used specific
artifacts?Anifaclsarenotintrinsicallygendernoisy,andassoci<lIinga set
ofobjectswithonegenderratherthantheotherinvolvesexplicitopera-
tions toward establishing genderspecificity. Ilowever, most biblical
archaeologists,ifthey doassign gendertoobjects,dosointuitively,
anachronistically,andperhapserroneously,Ifgenderiseverindicated,it
hasprobablybeenassignedbyuncx~lJllinedassumptionsaboutwomen's
ormen'sworkor,worse,byatendency 10 seemeneverywhereunless
provenotherwise,ratherthan byanexarnin~l1ionof~t11theresources
that wouldlead 10 a reasonablesuggestion<lbouttheuseofanifacts,
giventhepossiblerangeofthegendereddivisionoflaborinhousehold
activities. Such considerations are nowpart ofthe discourse in the
archaeologythat ispart ofanthropologicalresearch.^15 Ilowever,they
arenotpartofthediscourseofSyro-Palestinianarchaeology,andthe
theoretical issues involved in interpretingdata with an eye toward
women's lives are rarelyexplored,though they canbe exploredby
attendingtothemethodsandtheoryofanthropologistspracticingthe
archaeologyofgender.
Assuchanthropologistshaveshown, thegendereduseofartifacts
GInbeestablishedwithreasonablecertaintybyLlsing: writtensources,
ethnography and elhnoarchaeology, and, of course, archaeological
remains(includingiconography).Allofthesesourcesareactuallyalready
usedininterpretingthedataofSyro-Palestinianarchaeologyonthemeso
13 Sec,e.g.,JoanM.Gl:"roand"b1}tarctW.Conkey,t:Os.,EIIW!lIderillNArch(/(!otoR)':
WomellandPrehistory(Oxford:Ba:;iJ BI:lCkweil. (991): HolX:l1<tGilchrbt. Gemleralld
ArchaL'Ology:COlltes/iIlNthePast(London:Routk""(lge,199')):Nelson.Gel/derillArchaeology;
Nil:! 1'.Wright.ed.,CC'lIder{/mlIlrch(/L'ofoj{l'(Philadelphia:UniversityofI't:nnsylvani;l
Press,1996).IwillbepllbJishin!o;:manklereviewingthem;l!eriabfroma11lhropologythat
mighthelpengenderSyro-I':llcstinianarchaeologyinafonlKorningissueofNL'W'IXlst('1"I1
Archa('ol()gist:"Engl'ndcringSyro-I':llestinianArt'h:wology."