A team of Czech archaeologists claim to have unearthed the remains of an early gay man from around 2900-2500 B.C. outside Prague.
According to the Telegraph, the "gay caveman" was found buried in a way normally reserved only for women during the Copper Age. The man had been interred on his left side with his head facing east, with no weapons and household jugs -- almost always reserved for women in the region during that time -- placed at his feet. Traditionally, men were buried with weapons, hammers and flint knives, and their bodies were positioned on their right side with their heads facing west.
"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," lead researcher Kamila Remisova Vesinova said. "Far more likely is that he was a man with a different sexual orientation, homosexual or transvestite. What we see here does not add up to traditional Corded Ware cultural norms."
Archaeologist Katerina Semradova told reporters that the "third gender" discovery mirrored an earlier case, in which a female warrior dating from the Mesolithic period was found to have been buried as a man. In addition, she noted Siberian shamans, or latter-day witch doctors, were buried in a similar fashion to the "gay caveman," but usually with richer funeral accessories to depict a higher social status, the Daily Mail is reporting.
"But this later discovery was neither of those, leading us to believe the man was probably homosexual or transsexual," Semeradova is also quoted by the Telegraph as saying.
'Gay Caveman' Found By Archaeologists Near Prague
According to the Telegraph, the "gay caveman" was found buried in a way normally reserved only for women during the Copper Age. The man had been interred on his left side with his head facing east, with no weapons and household jugs -- almost always reserved for women in the region during that time -- placed at his feet. Traditionally, men were buried with weapons, hammers and flint knives, and their bodies were positioned on their right side with their heads facing west.
"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," lead researcher Kamila Remisova Vesinova said. "Far more likely is that he was a man with a different sexual orientation, homosexual or transvestite. What we see here does not add up to traditional Corded Ware cultural norms."
Archaeologist Katerina Semradova told reporters that the "third gender" discovery mirrored an earlier case, in which a female warrior dating from the Mesolithic period was found to have been buried as a man. In addition, she noted Siberian shamans, or latter-day witch doctors, were buried in a similar fashion to the "gay caveman," but usually with richer funeral accessories to depict a higher social status, the Daily Mail is reporting.
"But this later discovery was neither of those, leading us to believe the man was probably homosexual or transsexual," Semeradova is also quoted by the Telegraph as saying.
'Gay Caveman' Found By Archaeologists Near Prague
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