Transgender archaeology
Transgender archaeology is an approach to archaeology that encompasses how transgender studies and its theoretical approaches can be a tool to understand past cultures and communities around the world.[1] This approach diversifies cisgender approaches to archaeological practice.[1] In 2016, a special issue of the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory was dedicated to papers that challenged a binary approach to gender.[2] Researchers such as Mary Weismantel have discussed how understanding past gender diversity can support contemporary transgender rights, but have called for transgender archaeology to "not re-populate the ancient past ... but to offer a subtler appreciation of cultural variation".[3] Jan Turek, writing in 2016, described how archaeological interpretation can be limited since "current gender categories do not always correspond with those of a former reality".[4]
This approach draws on and can be applied to a range of disciplines in the field, including figurative analysis,[5][6] bioarchaeology,[7][8] and others.[9] For figurines from coastal Ecuador, many of these objects combine both masculine and feminine attributes through either physical characteristics or dress.[10] These figures, interpreted as potentially non-binary or transgender, are found in the Tumaco-La Tolita culture, as well as from Bahía and Jama Coaque cultures.[5] Similarly, analysis of late Bronze Age figurines from Knossos demonstrated that for both faience figurines and ivory bull-leaper figurines, "sexed differences are not clearly marked in a binary fashion".[11] Alberti argues that any sexed differences are highly dependent on the socio-religious context of the figurines, rather than specifically gendered identities.[11] The importance of context is also echoed in work on non-binary and intersex visibility in Roman archaeology.[12]
Bioarchaeological estimates of sex are based on identification of potentially dimorphic features, yet neither gender nor biological sex are entirely binary categories.[13][14] However, some characteristics that are often viewed as sexually dimorphic may not, depending on the age of the individual whose body is being analysed.[7][15] For example, cranial robustness tends to be associated as a male characteristic, yet it can also be considered a female characteristic because the effects of menopause can produce the same.[7] Additionally, the categorisation of sex uses a spectrum of female, probable female, ambiguous sex, male and probable male.[7] This is dependent on the confidence of the researcher in the estimation, rather than focus on the possibility of "sex-gender fluidity" in the past.[7]
Studies that support interpretations of gender fluidity include ones on pre-Columbian Maya burial practices,[7] multiple Hidatsa genders during the pre-Columbian era,[16] mortuary practices in Chumash communities,[17] communities during the Copper Age on the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria,[18] the excavation and interpretation of a 5,000-year-old person by the Czech Archaeological Society,[19] the reassessment of grave Bj.581 at Birka,[20] non-binary gender expression in Inuit cultures,[21] Roman Galli,[22][23] a 1,000-year-old person who likely had Klinefelter syndrome from Finland,[24] the life of Elagabalus,[25] prehistoric burials in Europe,[26] historical archaeology around the Engabao community in Ecuador,[27] material cultures in medieval England,[28][29] dress in eighteenth-century Ireland,[30] and many others.[31]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Hartemann, Gabby Omoni (2021-03-31). "Stop Erasing Transgender Stories From History". SAPIENS. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ Ghisleni, Lara; Jordan, Alexis M.; Fioccoprile, Emily (2016). 1072-5369. JSTOR 43967040.
- ^ Weismantel, Mary (2022-05-18), 10.4324/9781003206255-40, ISBN 978-1-003-20625-5, retrieved 2024-04-13
- ^ Turek, Jan (2016). 1555-8622.
- ^ a b Ugalde, María Fernanda (2019). 1900-5407.
- ^ Alberti, Benjamin (2002). "Gender and the Figurative Art of Late Bronze Age Knossos". In Hamilakis, Yannis (ed.). Labyrinth revisited: rethinking "Minoan" archaeology. Oxford: Oxbow Books. pp. 98–117. ISBN 978-1-84217-061-8.
- ^ a b c d e f Geller, Pamela L. (2005). 40025095.
- ^ Geller, Pamela L. (2009). 20622641.
- ^ "Archaeologists for Trans Liberation". anthro{dendum}. 2021-08-06. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ Sapiens (2020-07-09). "What Ancient Gender Fluidity Taught Me About Modern Patriarchy". SAPIENS. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ a b Alberti, Benjamin (2001). 0043-8243.
- ^ Power, Miller (2020-12-18). 2515-2289.
- ^ Springate, Megan E. (2020-07-26), Orser, Charles E.; Zarankin, Andrés; Lawrence, Susan; Symonds, James (eds.), 10.4324/9781315202846-6, ISBN 978-1-315-20284-6, retrieved 2024-04-13
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Geller, Pamela L. (2019), Buikstra, Jane E. (ed.), 10.1007/978-3-319-93012-1_10, ISBN 978-3-319-93011-4, retrieved 2024-04-13
- ^ Schall, Jenna L.; Rogers, Tracy L.; Deschamps-Braly, Jordan C. (2020). 32200173.
- ^ Prine, E. 2000. Searching for third genders: towards a prehistory of domestic space in Middle Missouri villages. In Voss, B. and Schmidt R. Archaeologies of Sexuality. Routledge, London, UK. pp 197–219.
- ^ Hollimon, S. E. 2000: Archaeology of the 'aqi: gender and sexuality in prehistoric Chumash society, in Archaeologies of Sexuality, pp. 179–196.
- ^ Stratton, Susan (2016). 43967044.
- ^ Everhart, Avery Rose (2022). 0887-5367.
- ^ Price, Neil; Hedenstierna-Jonson, Charlotte; Zachrisson, Torun; Kjellström, Anna; Storå, Jan; Krzewińska, Maja; Günther, Torsten; Sobrado, Verónica; Jakobsson, Mattias; Götherström, Anders (2019). 0003-598X.
- ^ Walley, Meghan (2018). 26775769.
- ^ Pinto, Renato; Pinto, Luciano C. G. (2013-03-27). 2515-2289.
- ^ the original on 2023-12-10. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ Moilanen, Ulla; Kirkinen, Tuija; Saari, Nelli-Johanna; Rohrlach, Adam B.; Krause, Johannes; Onkamo, Päivi; Salmela, Elina (2022). 1461-9571.
- ^ "Elagabalus: A Transgender Roman Emperor?". North Lincolnshire Museum. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ Pape, Eleonore; Ialongo, Nicola (2024). 0959-7743.
- ^ Benavides, Oswaldo Hugo (2024). 1092-7697.
- ^ Tess Wingard, The Trans Middle Ages: Incorporating Transgender and Intersex Studies into the History of Medieval Sexuality, The English Historical Review, Volume 138, Issue 593, August 2023, Pages 933–951.
- ^ Bennett, Judith M. (2008). 0068-1288.
- ^ Calvert, Leanne (2024-01-02). 1081-602X.
- ^ "Vol. 23, No. 3, September 2016 of Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory on JSTOR". www.jstor.org. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
Further reading
[edit]- Weismantel, Mary (2013). "Towards a Transgender Archaeology: A Queer Rampage Through Prehistory". In Stryker, Susan; Aizura, Aren Z. (eds.). The Transgender Studies Reader 2. Routledge. pp. 319–335. doi:10.4324/9781003206255-40.
- Oxford Bibliographies: Trans Studies in Anthropology
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