If you studied archaeology at an anglophone university some time in the last 29 years there’s a very good chance that you will have read (or perhaps skimmed) large portions of the weighty tome Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice, known generally just by the names of its authors, “Renfrew & Bahn”. It looked like this back when I (Becky) bought it:
This year it’s coming out in a shiny new 7th edition, and we’re extremely pleased to say it’ll now also be rather more #trowelblazertastic! We’ve been working with the publishers Thames and Hudson to improve the representation and discussion about women in archaeology in this textbook that remains a key point of entry for thousands of students young and old.
Seeing more women is crucial in making the next generation feel that this field is about, and for, them. That’s why we do what we do, working on things like the Raising Horizons exhibition which finished more than two years of touring last autumn. And we’re keen to keep boosting the presence of #trowelblazers on wikipedia, with another editathon in 2019 and hopefully more to come.
But making the present and future better for all #trowelblazers is an ongoing task, and one we’re happy to share with other magnificent grassroots organisations who push forward on the professional side like British Women Archaeologists or the RESPECT campaign. We were honoured to chair a session on just this topic at the December 2019 TAG conference (full recorded livestream here), and look forward to joining with other groups including Enabled Archaeology Foundation and Museum Detox in establishing a broader archaeology equality coalition this year.
We’re also looking at ways we can keep TrowelBlazers going from strength to strength, including website development and more streamlining for the submission and editing process: we LOVE receiving posts from you all, but things can be a little slow in getting online since our own careers and lives have changed a lot in the past seven (!!) years since we started.
So stay with us: as the community that has always been behind what we do, we’re grateful always for everyone’s support (whether in time, emotion, cake & tea or the cold hard cash that made Raising Horizons possible!). Let’s keep exploding preconceptions and battering down the barriers to women and girls everywhere imagining that they can be a #trowelblazer.
