Gay caveman
The Allure of Gay Cavemen
This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the writer, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Third genders, two spirits, and a media without a clue.
Author's Note: Earlier this month the UK Daily Mail reported on continued excavation at an archaeological site near Prague where researchers described an individual with an alternative gender identity. The obeying post originally appeared at Neuron Culture hosted by Wired after the original report last year.
In the reputable German weekly Der Spiegel printed a rumor that Otzi, the 5,year-old frozen mummy discovered in the Otztal Alps two years earlier, contained evidence of the world's earliest acknowledged homosexual act. "In Otzi's Hintern," wrote the editors, referring to the Iceman's hinterland, "Spermien gefunden worden." (If you require a translation, chances are you didn't want to know anyway.) The rumor quickly spread on pc bulletin boards as the recently unveiled World Wide Web inaugurated a new age in the free fl
Kamila Remisova Vesinova and her team of researchers from the Czech Archeological Community believe they have unearthed the remains of an early homosexual man. The remains date from around B.C., on the outskirts of Prague.
That claim stems from the fact the 5,year old skeleton was buried in a way reserved for women in the Corded Ware culture: its head was pointed east rather than west, and its remains were surrounded by domestic jugs rather than by hammers, flint knives and weapons that typically accompany male remains.
(More on : Should you eat like a caveman?)
&#;From history and ethnology, we know that people from this period took funeral rites very seriously so it is highly unlikely that this positioning was a mistake,&#; Vesinova said at a compress conference. &#;Far more likely is that he was a man with a different sexual orientation, lgbtq+ or transsexual.&#;
Katerina Semradova, another member of the team, admitted there have been other instances of men being buried with implements reserved for women and vice versa. Her colleagues previously unearthed a female warr
So, I get up this morning in Paris and execute my news find, and immediately I see articles all over the earth headlined &#;Gay Caveman&#;.
As I write, the most recent organism served up is from The West Australian. Not sure but I suspect that is the Austalian equivalent of a really petite town newspaper, so clearly, this is archaeo-news reaching the widest possible audience. (See this version of the story for images).
First, authorize us dispose of the &#;caveman&#;: we are talking about an individual buried ca. years ago in the Czech Republic. Even though no archaeologist wants to use the term &#;caveman&#; for any time or place, surely, the normal broader usage implies Palaeolithic, not Chalcolithic, cultures.
But of course, &#;caveman&#; is used here to dramatize a contrast: caveman/gay man. Hulking shambling macho seeker vs. ??
This is sexual stereotyping of the worst courteous. But what about the actual archaeology? Are we dealing here with a possible third gender?
Here&#;s the data, such as it is, courtesy of The West Australian:
The skeleton of the male, found during an excavatio
A gay caveman might sound like a character in a bad, vaguely insulting sketch comedy scene, but for some scientists in the Czech Republic, it's no laughing matter. They believe they've unearthed the remains of an prior homosexual or transsexual gentleman — perhaps the world's oldest gay caveman. Here, a brief guide:
What exactly did the scientists find?
In a suburb of Prague, archaeologists unearthed a male body buried in a manner typically reserved for women. The body dates back to between and B.C. The skeleton was surrounded by jugs and had its head pointed toward the east, things seen before only in the graves of women. "From history and ethnology, we know that people from this period took funeral rites very seriously, so it is highly unlikely that this positioning was a mistake," says Kamila Remisova Vesinova, the lead archaeologist on the dig. "Far more likely is that he was a man with a different sexual orientation, gay or transsexual."
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