Images of Archaeologists, Images of the Past

Abstract

Our concepts of the past are, as we are all well aware, never purely objective. The personality, attitude and introspection of those working on this topic, always influence our image of (pre)history. Therefore it is not apathetic, who explores the past and who has control over the results. On the other hand, especially far, prehistorical times are frequently used to explain current social or political conditions. The article deals with the professional chances of women in prehistorical archaeology in Germany, especially in the last 30 years. Despite a balance in university graduations, female archaeologists succeeded less frequently in obtaining a permanent or influential position than male archaeologists. Besides this, concepts of the prehistoric past developed by archaeologists are still mainly male-patriarchal influenced, despite the development of archaeological gender studies. Even more masculine than the archaeological staff is the popular image of archaeologists. Which leads to the question, which impact our own image has on our concepts of the past.