German scientists have discovered the remains of non-binary people – DW – 06/02/2023

by time news

2023-06-02 14:59:00

According to research by scientists at the University of Göttingen, non-binary people who do not identify as male or female have existed for much longer than one might think, namely since the Bronze Age. In a large-scale study, they analyzed more than 1,200 Bronze Age and Neolithic skeletons for signs of biological and social sex. Scientists have found that a minority with a non-binary gender identity has existed for thousands of years and backed up the modern understanding of gender and gender identity with archaeological knowledge. The results of the study are published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal..

Previous studies have generally focused on gender models, in which the identity of human remains has been traced to the determination of their biological sex based on bone DNA. Social gender, which depends on one’s own identity and perceptions of others rather than biological factors, is interpreted by archaeologists with clues such as grave goods. In a very simplified form, these features can be formulated as follows: weapons – for men, jewelry – for women.

What conclusions did scientists draw

However, in the published study, scientists collected and analyzed existing data on the biological and social field of more than one thousand human remains buried during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in what is now Germany, Austria and Italy. The dataset spans almost four thousand years of our distant past. The researchers determined how often the data on the biological and social field coincide or, on the contrary, differ.

Scientists managed to determine the biological and social sex in only 30 percent. At the same time, 90 percent of them had the same biological and social sex, and 10 percent of them did not correspond to the so-called “binary norms.”

Archaeologist Eleonora PapePhoto: Georg-August University of Göttingen

Thus, scientists believe that the results of the study should be taken as evidence that tolerance for non-binary people existed thousands of years ago. Non-binary people were buried in the same way as most people, but grave goods were placed in their graves that did not correspond to their biological sex. Scientists explain this by the fact that in prehistoric Europe there was no clear distinction between masculinity and femininity and the values ​​associated with them.

Why isn’t everything so clear?

Eleonore Pape, a researcher at the University of Göttingen, Ph.D. in archeology, who is now at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, online publications Archaeologie-online.de summarizes: “These figures suggest that historically we cannot think of non-binary people as an exception to the rule. Rather, we should think of them as minorities that need to be officially recognized, protected and respected.”

Scientist Nicola Yalongo
Scientist Nicola YalongoPhoto: Georg-August University of Göttingen

Archaeologist Nicola Ialongo of the Department of Prehistory and Protohistory at the University of Göttingen adds that this is just one of the possible interpretations. “At the moment, we are not yet able to assess the actual scope of the study. This is not only due to the error of the methods, for example, when examining bones. We also have to take into account the possible bias of the researchers: we, as humans, tend to find what we want to find.”

Scientists are hoping for more accurate biomolecular analyzes, such as DNA and proteins in tooth enamel, that may provide additional information for more precise conclusions.

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