Mothering and Archaeology: Past and Present Perspectives

Mothering and Archaeology brings to light new insights connecting mothering in the past and present by exploring all aspects of this important but frequently under-valued and thus neglected subject and is underpinned by feminist theorizing of motherhood and mothering.

Laura Seifert has more than 20 years of experience in archaeology, museums, and higher education. Seifert has spent her career working on archaeology projects from the Canadian border to the Caribbean, with a focus on the southeastern United States. Since earning her Masters’ degree from East Carolina University, Seifert has been digging through Savannah’s museums and squares. She is the Chief of Resources Management at Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia, when not mothering her young son (because federal regulations do not permit childcare while working).

Suzanne Spencer-Wood is a Professor at Oakland University in Michigan, USA, and was an Associate of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University 1992-2019. In 1989 she organized the first two conference symposia on gender research in historical archaeology, at the Joint Archaeological Congress and at the Chacmool Conference, and has several publications on feminist theory and gender research in historical archaeology that address mothering in homes and institutions for children and children’s social agency.