Nieuwe bezems vegen schoon? De voorstelling van gender in de prehistorie in HAVO/VWO geschiedenislesmethodes 1986-2023

Samenvatting

New brooms sweep clean? The development of gender in prehistory in Dutch secondary-school history textbooks. 

Reconstructions of prehistory play an important role in archaeology education and public archaeology. This research recorded developments in the representation of gender in reconstructions of prehistory in textbooks for Dutch secondary-school (HAVO/VWO) history education. The analysis shows that men form the largest group on average in 1986-2002 and women in 2003-2023. In 2003-2023, women are comparatively more associated with hunter-gatherer societies, a nomadic existence and hunting attributes, while clothing and activities associated with women remain unaltered. For men, the gender-dependent characteristics appear to be more diachronically constant. The results suggest that the influence of gender archaeology on the representation of gender in prehistory in history textbooks is limited and that gender stereotypes about prehistory largely endure.