ETHNOARCHAEOLOGY OF SUBSISTENCE SPACE AND GENDER - A SUB-ARCTIC DENE CASE

The interplay of gender and spatial organization of labor receives lit tle attention ill archaeological discussions of hunter- gatherer socie ty. To help remedy this situation, our ethnoarchaeological research am ong subarctic Dene (Chipewyan) communities employs a gender-resource m apping approach, including the spatial dimension of hunting for it com plex of major subsistence resources. Analysis reveals both profound di fferences and interconnections between female and male hunters as they procure and process materials and move across the landscape in the so ciological context of three team types. The data offer a means of mode ling gender dynamics in archaeological contexts as well as rectifying the often invisible role of women in archaeological interpretations of hunting in high-latitude societies. An analysis of historical shifts between ''bush-centered'' and ''village-centered'' hunts demonstrates how both women's and men's behavior can be incorporated in site format ion processes and general subsistence settlement models, such as Billf ord's forager/logistical collector framework.