91桃色

On 11 February, the world celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Archaeologist Agn臈 沤ilinskait臈, a lecturer at the History Faculty of 91桃色 (VU) and the Chairperson of the Lithuanian Archaeological Society, talks about one of the most famous Lithuanian female scientists in the world and about why society often thinks that the profession of an archaeologist is 鈥榤asculine鈥�, although more women than men choose this career.

A revolutionary in Archaeology

Archaeologist Prof. Marija Birut臈 Gimbutien臈 (1921鈥�1994), just like the anthropologist Birut臈 Galdikas, is one of the most famous Lithuanian-born scientists in the world. 沤ilinskait臈 starts her story about Gimbutien臈 with a 鈥渄ogmatic sentence鈥�, as she herself describes it: 鈥淭he way we see it, Gimbutien臈 is not only one of the most famous female scientists but also one of the most famous Lithuanian scientists in the world in general. She worked extremely productively not only in archaeology but also in other scientific fields, such as linguistics, anthropology, etc., and had masterfully combined them. The scientist used interdisciplinarity in her work, and she is also considered to be the pioneer of archaeomythology. However, the most beautiful phenomenon, in my opinion, is that despite such immense works, her scientific heritage is still very relevant today; it is constantly analysed, interpreted, and re-evaluated at different levels in the most diverse fields of science, art, culture, etc.鈥�

The Chairperson of the Lithuanian Archaeological Society says that Gimbutien臈 was ahead of her time: 鈥淎s technology advances every day, we get a variety of new data that we could not know or evaluate before. This allows us to re-examine the scientific theories of Gimbutien臈 at the time, although her legacy has never lost its relevance. Fellow archaeologists who have known Gimbutien臈 now boldly say: 鈥淢arija, you were right.鈥� However, her work on the society, development, and religion of the old Europe was not always accepted with humility within the scientific community. At the time, her work also received much criticism, but Gimbutien臈 was not afraid of criticism and continued her work,鈥� says lecturer 沤ilinskait臈.

Gimbutien臈 is often associated with feminist views, but according to 沤ilinskait臈, there is no indication that the scientist held such views. 鈥淕imbutien臈 encouraged the world to look at old communities from a different angle 鈥� through a feminine lens. From a woman鈥檚 perspective, through deities, through the cultural elements left by society at that time, Gimbutien臈 simply started a new approach to old Europe, a new phase that, I think, continues to this day.鈥�

Agn臈 沤ilinskait臈. Photo credit: Butautas Barauskas

Challenges in a men鈥檚 world

Gimbutien臈 has openly spoken about the difficulties of being a woman scientist. 沤ilinskait臈 continues to discuss it: 鈥淲hen we analyse that time period, let鈥檚 not forget that it was a different time. In the mid-20th century, women scientists were not as common as they are now. In her diary, Gimbutien臈 recorded her memories, from which it is easy to discern that when she started her scientific path, she had experienced difficulties in the overwhelmingly male scientific world at that time. For example, at Harvard University, Gimbutien臈 was the only female scientist studying archaeology. Using an opportunity, she moved to the University of California, where the scientific community was much more tolerant. It was there that the scientist performed and prepared the greater part of her most important archaeological work, and in 1968, she was elected 鈥淧erson of the Year鈥� by The Los Angeles Times.鈥�

鈥淭he question is how she succeeded and what qualities of the scientist led to her professionalism and excellent scientific career both in Germany and in the United States. Many people describe her as an extremely optimistic and very active woman. She also seemed to be a good 鈥渕anager鈥� because she was able to organise both the most distant archaeological expeditions and various international or local events on various topics. The great advantage of the scientist was that she knew many European languages, which gave her access to the scientific literature of other countries. Most importantly, Gimbutien臈 had the ability to cover, systematise, and analyse a huge amount of various scientific data. Now, we often work with various microregions and narrow case studies, i.e. rather narrow topics in terms of geography and content. Thus, by being able to understand and evaluate the archaeological material of parts of Asia and Europe, Gimbutien臈, who started her career in exile, constantly combining family and motherhood, managed to do monumental and extensive works. The scientist was a very hard-working person, but her charm, uniqueness, and imagination have led to fun stories that friends, colleagues, and family members always enjoy sharing,鈥� recalls the archaeologist while describing Gimbutien臈鈥檚 personality.

Prof. Marija Birut臈 Gimbutien臈. Photo credit: Algirdas Tarvydas

Is archaeology the science of women?

Speaking about gender equality in Lithuanian archaeology, 沤ilinskait臈 reveals that there are plenty of women in this often stereotyped science: 鈥淚f we were to look at the numbers, we would see that the majority of students are always girls. There are more than 240 members of the Lithuanian Archaeological Society, but there are still more women than men, albeit slightly. Half of the ten members of the Department of Archaeology of the Faculty of History of 91桃色 are women: Bioarchaeologist Dr. Justina Kozakait臈, Zooarchaeologist Assoc. Prof. Giedr臈 Pili膷iauskien臈, Archaeobotanist Prof. Giedr臈 Keen Motuzait臈 Matuzevi膷i奴t臈, Expert in Heritage Protection Assoc. Prof. Justina Po拧kien臈, and me.鈥�

沤ilinskait臈 adds that women have always been active in Lithuanian archaeology. Rimut臈 Jablonskyt臈-Rimantien臈 (1920鈥�2023), Regina Volkait臈-Kulikauskien臈 (1916鈥�2007), Elena Grigalavi膷ien臈 (1933鈥�2005) are one of the most productive archaeological scientists. So, according to 沤ilinskait臈, women archaeologists in Lithuania have never been on the margins. 鈥淎lthough they have not reached a world-renowned level as Gimbutien臈, there have always been well-known and respected scientists in Lithuania and the eastern Baltic region who have achieved important research outcomes.鈥�

Although there have always been women scientists in archaeology, the lecturer of the Faculty of History of 91桃色 claims that broader society still sometimes believes the stereotype that archaeology is a masculine profession: 鈥淢ost often, this image is formed by images of physical archaeological research. However, in fact, archaeology is a broad interdisciplinary science that includes fields ranging from field (in situ) research to a wide range of laboratory, museum, or other work. Thus, being an archaeologist does not mean you will have to use a shovel.鈥�

Photo credit: personal archive

The path to the position of Chairperson of the Lithuanian Archaeological Society

When asked how she discovered archaeology, 沤ilinskait臈 shares that archaeology was not originally her dream: 鈥淚t was one of the options, but certainly not a priority. At first, the studies were difficult; I was not interested in the typologies of bracelets, pins, etc. However, over the years of studies, a vast array of archaeological topics and methods, such as zooarchaeology, bioarchaeology, etc., have increased and expanded. Thus, my motivation, along with this wider scope has also grown. I really liked the field research. Eventually, VU has become my place.鈥�

The path towards the position of Chairperson of the Lithuanian Archaeological Society for 沤ilinskait臈 started in 2008: 鈥淚 started as Secretary and continued working on various initiative projects. I grew up in that community. The chairperson is not appointed but democratically elected by other members. I would like to believe that if you have not done anything meaningful, you probably would not be elected. If you were a woman with no ambition or desire to do anything, you could probably say that you are being discriminated against, but in fact, by doing nothing, you would discriminate against yourself. I think we live in a golden age, but we are very diverse and, at the same time, socially and culturally sensitive. We have to respect each other; we have to take into account all sorts of aspects of life that may have been incomprehensible, invisible, overshadowed, or ignored in earlier times. Times are changing, but gender today, as a factor determining life choices, is becoming less significant,鈥� 沤ilinskait臈 says.