You are here

Between Rock Cairns And Charm Stones: An Examination Of Women’s Access To Healing Roles In California Hunter-Gatherer Groups

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2016
Summary:
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity of previous theories concerning women’s access to roles of power within hunter-gatherer societies. This study examines how accurately immanent social identity theory and bifurcated role circumstantiality predict women’s access to the role of healer (shaman) within California hunter-gatherer groups. A sample of 27 California hunter-gatherer groups was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Notably, chi-square tests of independence evinced a correlation between men’s and women’s circumstantial labor and observed healer gender. Through the statistical verification of such engendered ideas, this study tests notions concerning the strict binary division of labor and posits that gender may have operated as a role-based identity marker rather than one structured around innate characteristics. This research ultimately provides a better analytical framework from which archaeologists can interpret the past through the use of ethnographic analogies that are more inclusive of gender-enriched methodologies.
Title: Between Rock Cairns And Charm Stones: An Examination Of Women’s Access To Healing Roles In California Hunter-Gatherer Groups.
96 views
23 downloads
Name(s): Hampton, Ashley, author
Brown, Susan Love, Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Department of Anthropology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2016
Date Issued: 2016
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 198 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity of previous theories concerning women’s access to roles of power within hunter-gatherer societies. This study examines how accurately immanent social identity theory and bifurcated role circumstantiality predict women’s access to the role of healer (shaman) within California hunter-gatherer groups. A sample of 27 California hunter-gatherer groups was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Notably, chi-square tests of independence evinced a correlation between men’s and women’s circumstantial labor and observed healer gender. Through the statistical verification of such engendered ideas, this study tests notions concerning the strict binary division of labor and posits that gender may have operated as a role-based identity marker rather than one structured around innate characteristics. This research ultimately provides a better analytical framework from which archaeologists can interpret the past through the use of ethnographic analogies that are more inclusive of gender-enriched methodologies.
Identifier: FA00004600 (IID)
Degree granted: Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Subject(s): Hunting and gathering societies--California--Social life and customs.
Indian women--California--Social life and customs.
Indians of North America--California--Material culture.
Indians of North America--California--Social life and customs.
Power (Social sciences)
Sexual division of labor.
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Sublocation: Digital Library
Links: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004600
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004600
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.