A selection of some of the papers presented at two international workshops: Women and Maintenance activities in times of change and Interpreting household practices: reflections on the social and cultural roles of maintenance activities, which were held in Barcelona in November 2005 and November 2007. These two workshops were co-organised by the Centre d'Estudis del Patrimoni Arqueologic de la Prehistoria-CEPAP (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain) and by the Departament d'Humanitats (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain)."