2023-05-31 09:00:15
Analysis of the contents of more than a thousand prehistoric burials spread over seven sites in Central Europe suggests that a minority of the individuals buried were non-binary: they would not have identified exclusively as men or women.
Prehistoric non-binarity
Research on genres during the Prehistory has been hotly debated for decades. One of the main points of contention being whether or not they fit a binary pattern and to what extent. In the context of works published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journalscientists specifically sought to establish correlations between the gender and the biological sex of 1,252 people who lived between the beginning of the Neolithic and the Late Bronze Age (5,500 to 1,200 BCE).
The team explained that they excluded just over 70% of individuals from the analysis due to insufficient evidence. While sex (determined on the basis of osteological analyses) and gender (established according to the types of grave goods with which the remains were buried) were found to match for 26.5% of the remaining skeletons , they were found to be discordant in 2.9% of cases.
« We found that for six of the seven burial sites, there was a consistent minority of individuals whose biological sex did not match the gender that grave goods found in their graves suggested. write the researchers. ” Historically, we can no longer view non-binary people as exceptions to a rule, but rather as minorities, who could have been officially recognized, protected and even revered.. »
Examples considered striking
Among the most striking examples were a buried biologically male individual with a headdress made of snail shells and other objects usually associated with the female sex, as well as a buried female skeleton with a stone axe, a fish hook , boar tusks and flint blades.
« If we distinguish the cases for which we have both determinations of sex and gender […]the association model appears massively binary, with 90% […] burials with corresponding sex and gender indicators sum up the scientists.
« We conclude that the available data – despite potential biases – support the hypothesis that some degree of gender variance was formally accepted as part of burial rites practiced by prehistoric Central European societies.. »
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