Ambiguous Images, Gender and Rock Art

by Kelley Hays-Gilpin

What does rock art say about gender and how can our understanding of gender shape the way that we view rock art? A significant contribution to the relatively unexplored field of gender in rock art, this volume contains a wealth of information for archaeologists, anthropologists, and art historians interested in past gender systems. Hays-Gilpin argues that art is at once a product of its physical and social environment and at the same time a tool of influence in shaping behavior and ideas within a society. Taking this stance, rock art is shown to be very often one of the strongest lines of evidence avaliable to scholars in understanding ritual practices, gender roles, and ideologicial constructs of prehistoric peoples. Subsequently issues of representation and the people who made these forms of art are also discussed.

Genres: Archaeology

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Dr. Kelley Hays-Gilpin is the Edward Bridge Danson, Jr. Chair of Anthropology at the Museum of Northern Arizona and also Professor of Anthropology at Northern Arizona University. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Arizona, and has nearly 40 years of experience studying rock art, pottery, and other visual arts in the Southwest. Her current research focuses on the long-term histories and arts of Hopi and Zuni communities and their relationships with land and water. She is investigating culturally appropriate museum curation techniques in collaboration with Indigenous scholars, and planning new exhibits for MNA’s galleries and publications about MNA’s collections.

Reviews

[Mariah Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent drawings, research, commentary, questioning traditional archeological assumptions about gender and rock art.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of this book is very dense and I had trouble making sense of it. One excellent chapter on gender in landscape.