Gender and Material Culture: The Archaeology of Religious Women

by Roberta Gilchrist

Reveals, through a close comparison of monasteries for men and women, stark contrasts in the social and economic status of these religious foundations. The book provides the first complete case study in the applied archaeology of gender.

Genres: History, Archaeology, Gender Studies, Feminism

236 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 1993

About the author

Roberta Lynn Gilchrist, FSA, FBA (born 28 June 1965) is a Canadian-born archaeologist and academic specialising in the medieval period, whose career has been spent in the United Kingdom. She is Professor of Archaeology and Dean of Research at the University of Reading.

Reviews

[aiwe!]

well argued and clearly an important contribution— gilchrist is very explicit about the relationships between archaeology and history and between androcentric bias and our understanding of religious women.
super written in the 90s in ways that can make one cringe a little in 2026. also super about built environments in a way i did not expect.

[Ella]

Read for PhD proposal research. Super useful in that regard.