Women and Archaeological Collecting in Portugal (1893–1930)

The study of the history of archaeology based on scientific practice shows that a wide range of actors systematically were active in the field. Far from playing a passive role, their contribution was essential for the process of increasing our knowledge about the past. However, in Portugal, as in other western countries, research has focused on the importance of a small number of figures and their contribution to the recognition of the field. There is a need not only for revealing the details of the lives of the main figures involved but also examining and analysing the contribution of an array of other actors who also strove to promote the advance of archaeology and who are invisible. When we take into account the role of these actors, including women, a more nuanced, more complex scenario emerges as compared with that which has been portrayed by historiographers up until now. From the standpoint of the History of Science and the study of scientific practice, historical sources are examined with a view to identifying women involved in archaeological collecting in Portugal in the mostly male-inhabited context of scientific development that took place from 1850 to 1930.