Feminist Data Science in Archaeology?

Overview This digital review examines how feminist data science can inform, challenge, and reshape archaeological knowledge production in an era of expanding digital data infrastructures. Beginning with a historical analysis of the term “feminist” in American Antiquity , I demonstrate that although feminist perspectives have appeared consistently over four decades, such engagement remains limited in scope. Drawing from this context, I argue that the proliferation of online, publicly accessible archaeological datasets requires renewed feminist and decolonial scrutiny. I situate these challenges within broader conversations around FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics) principles, Indigenous data sovereignty, and moderated openness, highlighting tensions between expanding digital access and resisting colonial datafication. Intersectional feminist data science, particularly the framework proposed by D’Ignazio and Klein (2020), offers actionable principles for confronting inequities embedded within archaeological data structures. I illustrate these principles through a multimodal collaborative project with the Pueblo of Zuni and the Hopi Tribe, which uses film-based storytelling to reframe relationships to ancestral collections and places. The article concludes with a reflection on citation inequities and disciplinary gatekeeping, underscoring how digital data practices can either reproduce or dismantle structural biases. I argue that transforming archaeological data science requires collective courage and sustained commitment to feminist, Indigenous, and community-engaged approaches that expand the inclusivity and ethical integrity of our field.