Transgender archaeology

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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

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References

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  1. ^ a b Hartemann, Gabby Omoni (2021-03-31). "Stop Erasing Transgender Stories From History". SAPIENS. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  2. ^ Ghisleni, Lara; Jordan, Alexis M.; Fioccoprile, Emily (2016). "Introduction to "Binary Binds": Deconstructing Sex and Gender Dichotomies in Archaeological Practice". Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 23 (3): 765–787. doi:10.1007/s10816-016-9296-9. hdl:10454/9906. ISSN 1072-5369. JSTOR 43967040.
  3. ^ Weismantel, Mary (2022-05-18), "Towards a Transgender Archaeology", The Transgender Studies Reader Remix (1 ed.), New York: Routledge, pp. 380–391, doi:10.4324/9781003206255-40, ISBN 978-1-003-20625-5, retrieved 2024-04-13
  4. ^ Turek, Jan (2016). "Sex, Transsexuality and Archaeological Perception of Gender Identities". Archaeologies. 12 (3): 340–358. doi:10.1007/s11759-017-9303-0. ISSN 1555-8622.
  5. ^ a b Ugalde, María Fernanda (2019). "Las alfareras rebeldes: una mirada desde la arqueología ecuatoriana a las relaciones de género, la opresión femenina y el patriarcado". Antípoda. Revista de Antropología y Arqueología (in Spanish) (36): 33–56. doi:10.7440/antipoda36.2019.03. ISSN 1900-5407.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Geller, Pamela L. (2005). "Skeletal Analysis and Theoretical Complications". World Archaeology. 37 (4): 597–609. doi:10.1080/00438240500404391. ISSN 0043-8243. JSTOR 40025095.
  8. ^ Geller, Pamela L. (2009). "Identity and Difference: Complicating Gender in Archaeology". Annual Review of Anthropology. 38: 65–81. doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-091908-164414. ISSN 0084-6570. JSTOR 20622641.
  9. ^ "Archaeologists for Trans Liberation". anthro{dendum}. 2021-08-06. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  10. ^ Sapiens (2020-07-09). "What Ancient Gender Fluidity Taught Me About Modern Patriarchy". SAPIENS. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  11. ^ a b Alberti, Benjamin (2001). "Faience goddesses and ivory bull-leapers: The aesthetics of sexual difference at Late Bronze Age Knossos". World Archaeology. 33 (2): 189–205. doi:10.1080/00438240120079244. ISSN 0043-8243.
  12. ^ Power, Miller (2020-12-18). "Non-Binary and Intersex Visibility and Erasure in Roman Archaeology". Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal. 3 (1). doi:10.16995/traj.422. ISSN 2515-2289.
  13. ^ Springate, Megan E. (2020-07-26), Orser, Charles E.; Zarankin, Andrés; Lawrence, Susan; Symonds, James (eds.), "Intersectionality, queer archaeology, and sexual effects", The Routledge Handbook of Global Historical Archaeology (1 ed.), New York : Routledge, 2020.: Routledge, pp. 95–116, doi:10.4324/9781315202846-6, ISBN 978-1-315-20284-6, retrieved 2024-04-13{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  14. ^ Geller, Pamela L. (2019), Buikstra, Jane E. (ed.), "The Fallacy of the Transgender Skeleton", Bioarchaeologists Speak Out, Bioarchaeology and Social Theory, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 231–242, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93012-1_10, ISBN 978-3-319-93011-4, retrieved 2024-04-13
  15. ^ Schall, Jenna L.; Rogers, Tracy L.; Deschamps-Braly, Jordan C. (2020). "Breaking the binary: The identification of trans-women in forensic anthropology". Forensic Science International. 309: 110220. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110220. ISSN 1872-6283. PMID 32200173.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ Hollimon, S. E. 2000: Archaeology of the 'aqi: gender and sexuality in prehistoric Chumash society, in Archaeologies of Sexuality, pp. 179–196.
  18. ^ Stratton, Susan (2016). ""Seek and you Shall Find." How the Analysis of Gendered Patterns in Archaeology can Create False Binaries: a Case Study from Durankulak". Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 23 (3): 854–869. doi:10.1007/s10816-016-9290-2. ISSN 1072-5369. JSTOR 43967044.
  19. ^ Everhart, Avery Rose (2022). "Bones without Flesh and (Trans)Gender without Bodies: Querying Desires for Trans Historicity". Hypatia. 37 (4): 601–618. doi:10.1017/hyp.2022.50. ISSN 0887-5367.
  20. ^ Price, Neil; Hedenstierna-Jonson, Charlotte; Zachrisson, Torun; Kjellström, Anna; Storå, Jan; Krzewińska, Maja; Günther, Torsten; Sobrado, Verónica; Jakobsson, Mattias; Götherström, Anders (2019). "Viking warrior women? Reassessing Birka chamber grave Bj.581". Antiquity. 93 (367): 181–198. doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.258. ISSN 0003-598X.
  21. ^ Walley, Meghan (2018). "Exploring Potential Archaeological Expressions of Nonbinary Gender in Pre-Contact Inuit Contexts". Études/Inuit/Studies. 42 (1): 269–289. doi:10.7202/1064504ar. ISSN 0701-1008. JSTOR 26775769.
  22. ^ Pinto, Renato; Pinto, Luciano C. G. (2013-03-27). "Transgendered Archaeology: The Galli and the Catterick Transvestite". Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal (2012): 169. doi:10.16995/TRAC2012_169_181. ISSN 2515-2289.
  23. ^ "International Transgender Day of Visibility: The Galli in Yorkshire - York Archaeology". 2023-12-10. Archived from the original on 2023-12-10. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  24. ^ Moilanen, Ulla; Kirkinen, Tuija; Saari, Nelli-Johanna; Rohrlach, Adam B.; Krause, Johannes; Onkamo, Päivi; Salmela, Elina (2022). "A Woman with a Sword? – Weapon Grave at Suontaka Vesitorninmäki, Finland". European Journal of Archaeology. 25 (1): 42–60. doi:10.1017/eaa.2021.30. ISSN 1461-9571.
  25. ^ "Elagabalus: A Transgender Roman Emperor?". North Lincolnshire Museum. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  26. ^ Pape, Eleonore; Ialongo, Nicola (2024). "Error or Minority? The Identification of Non-binary Gender in Prehistoric Burials in Central Europe". Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 34 (1): 43–63. doi:10.1017/S0959774323000082. ISSN 0959-7743.
  27. ^ Benavides, Oswaldo Hugo (2024). "Cracking the Capitalist Code: Archaeology, Resistance and the Historical Present in Ecuador". International Journal of Historical Archaeology. 28 (1): 33–44. doi:10.1007/s10761-022-00692-1. ISSN 1092-7697.
  28. ^ 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.
  29. ^ Bennett, Judith M. (2008). "Two Women and their Monumental Brass, c. 1480". Journal of the British Archaeological Association. 161 (1): 163–184. doi:10.1179/174767008x330572. ISSN 0068-1288.
  30. ^ Calvert, Leanne (2024-01-02). "'Came to her dressed in mans cloaths': transgender histories and queer approaches to the family in eighteenth-century Ireland". The History of the Family. 29 (1): 109–130. doi:10.1080/1081602X.2024.2310546. hdl:2299/27548. ISSN 1081-602X.
  31. ^ "Vol. 23, No. 3, September 2016 of Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory on JSTOR". www.jstor.org. Retrieved 2024-04-13.

Further reading

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  • 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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