Description
The Yamnaya migration to the west, in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, has been in the past years one of the most hotly debated topics in archaeological and genetic research. The focus lies on the driving forces behind this event, its genetic, cultural, and even linguistic implications, as well as long-term consequences for the European continent. It is a general consensus that it brought along a shift in burial practices, the emergence of a warrior class, innovations in metallurgy, and for a while the theory of a dramatic increase in violence was very appealing, although the latter idea has been contested lately. Furthermore, it is now widely accepted among scholars that the migration was male driven for several generations, and a bias of 5 to14 men for every migrating woman was advanced. The role of women in the initial migration process as well as their presence in the westernmost Yamnaya distribution regions is understudied. Yamnaya graves cover half a millennium at the western end of the Great Steppe, on the current territories of Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary, and overall, women are largely invisible in current literature studying them. However, this invisibility does not derive from their actual absence from the archaeological record, but rather from the predominance of a specific focus in the interpretation of data. Taking as a starting point the burial practices related to women: funerary structures built for them, how their bodies were treated and laid inside the pit, what grave goods accompanied them, butalso information from bio-anthropology about their health and activity patterns, this presentation is an exploration of their status and role in Yamnaya communities.
| Period | 1 Sept 2022 |
|---|---|
| Event title | 28th EAA Annual Meeting in Budapest, Hungary, 31 August - 3 September 2022 |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Budapest, HungaryShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |