D 2020

The “Archaeological” and “Biological” Sex of an Individual – Why Do they Sometimes Differ?

PŘICHYSTALOVÁ, Renáta and Kateřina BOBEROVÁ

Basic information

Original name

The “Archaeological” and “Biological” Sex of an Individual – Why Do they Sometimes Differ?

Name in Czech

Tzv. archeologické a biologické pohlaví jedinců – proč se někdy nesetkají?

Authors

PŘICHYSTALOVÁ, Renáta (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution) and Kateřina BOBEROVÁ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution)

Edition

1. vyd. Nitra, Multiple Identities in Prehistory, Early History and Presence : Proceedings of the SASPRO workshops in Klement (Austria) and Nitra (Slovakia) 2018. Archaeologica Slovaca Monographiae - Communicationes, Tomus XXIV, p. 117-130, 14 pp. 2020

Publisher

Archeologický ústav Slovenskej akadémie vied

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Proceedings paper

Field of Study

60102 Archaeology

Country of publisher

Slovakia

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

Publication form

printed version "print"

References:

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/20:00114227

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

ISBN

978-80-8196-035-2

Keywords (in Czech)

Pohansko; Jižní předhradí; pohřebiště; biologické pohlaví; antropologické pohlaví; gender

Keywords in English

Pohansko; southern suburb; burial ground; biological sex; archaeological sex; gender

Tags

Tags

International impact, Reviewed
Changed: 19/3/2021 14:06, Mgr. Renáta Přichystalová, Ph.D.

Abstract

V originále

The determination of sex in archaeological skeletal findings, in this case those in the graves discovered at Pohansko, has been a matter of controversy since the outset of collaboration between archaeologists and anthropologists. Such discrimination depends on the scientific opinion of experts, the theoretical and practical knowledge they have at their disposal, and the methods they choose to approach the grave/skeleton. Four graves out of the 205 found in the early medieval stronghold of Břeclav-Pohansko (CZ), specifically in the Southern Suburb, presented discrepancies between ‘archaeological’ and ‘anthropological’ sex/gender. Two of these were child graves in which earrings appeared (graves JP/100, JP/155) and one belonged to an adult individual with the earrings in a functional position (grave JP/160). All these skeletons were determined to be male individuals on the basis of aDNA analysis. On the other hand, according to aDNA analysis, an axe accompanied one adult skeleton that was determined to be that of a female (grave JP/103). The present paper discusses the quality of the evidence used, together with the cogency and logical reasoning of the archaeological and anthropological approaches. When there is contradiction between the anthropological and archaeological sex determination of a particular individual, arriving at a consensus depends on several key points: the state of the environment surrounding the archaeological finding, the quality of documentation, the condition of the skeletal material, the anthropological (archaeological) methods employed, and the archaeologist’s (anthropologist’s) judgement.

Links

GA18-15480S, research and development project
Name: Smrt, pohřeb a kostra prizmatem funerální archeologie a tafonomie: pohřebiště u druhého kostela na Pohansku (Břeclav)
Investor: Czech Science Foundation