'Gay Caveman' Story Overblown, Archaeologists Say | Live Science

Contents:

• 'GAY VEMAN' THEORY GETS A ROCKY RECEPTN
• THE ALLURE OF GAY CAVEMEN
• THE ALLURE OF GAY CAVEMEN
• 'GAY CAVEMAN' FOUND BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS NEAR PRAGUE
• GAY CAVEMAN FOUND
• SCIENTISTS SPEAK OUT TO DISCRED 'GAY VEMAN' MEDIA REPORTS
• 'GAY CAVEMAN' STORY OVERBLOWN, ARCHAEOLOGISTS SAY
• WHAT THE "GAY CAVEMAN" STORY DON'T TELL US ABOUT SEXUAL VARIABILY

'GAY VEMAN' THEORY GETS A ROCKY RECEPTN

Archaeologists Prague say they've unvered a Stone-Age man buried a posn ually rerved for women — but media claims of a "gay veman" may be exaggerated, acrdg to some rearchers.

Not gay, not a vemanVova and her lleagu told reporters that the man may have belonged to a "third genr.

THE ALLURE OF GAY CAVEMEN

The skeleton has been tmpeted the media as belongg to a "homosexual veman, " but some archaeologists are skeptil.

For one thg, the plexy of the third-genr ncept mak llg the skeleton "gay" an oversimplifitn, wrote Krista Killgrove, an anthropologist Chapel Hill, N. "If this burial reprents a transgenred dividual (as well uld), that don't necsarily mean the person had a 'different sexual orientatn ' and certaly don't mean that he would have nsired himself (or that his culture would have nsired him) 'homosexual, '" Killgrove wrote. "The realy of this is gog to be far more plited than, 'This dividual was gay, '" Dobson told LiveScience.

Not only is "gay" an oversimplifitn, "veman" is flat-out accurate, said John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the Universy of Wisns, Madison. Top 10 Weird Ways We Deal Wh the Dead 5 Myths About Gay People Debunked Top 10 Mysteri of the First Humans.

THE ALLURE OF GAY CAVEMEN

- EMJ & DD*___The Allure of Gay CavemenThird genrs, two spirs, and a media whout a clueby Eric Michael JohnsonIn 1993 the reputable German weekly Der Spiegelreported a mor that Otzi, the 5, 300-year-old ozen mummy disvered the Otztal Alps two years earlier, ntaed evince of the world's earlit known homosexual act. The orig of the mor, as Cecil Adams disvered, turns out to have been an April Fool's prank published the Atrian gay magaze Lambda Nachrichten.

The problem lay not wh the scientists, who were scribg prelimary fdgs that previewed some tantalizg rults, but a media culture that emphasiz sensatnalism over accuracy and beg first over beg all acunts seems that the UK Telegraph had the dub honor of beg first this se, and so dog mted two wrongs jt as many words: "Gay Caveman. Sendly, an alternative sexual orientatn do not make a person gay.

" The genr rol that we've e to know as homosexual, lbian, bisexual, and transgenr were all reprented the societi, but ways that were culturally specific and likely to have been que unfaiar based on our fns. Gay vemen, ed. However, spe the ial siari between the gay vemen sndals of 1991 and 2011 there is a very important difference.

'GAY CAVEMAN' FOUND BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS NEAR PRAGUE

In ten untri (cludg where I s Canada, though not where I'm om the Uned Stat) gay marriage has the same legal regnn as straight marriage. The popular allure of the gay veman story is jt one ditn of this ongog change. The followg post origally appeared at Nron Culture hosted by Wired after the origal report last 1993 the reputable German weekly Der Spiegel prted a mor that Otzi, the 5, 300-year-old ozen mummy disvered the Otztal Alps two years earlier, ntaed evince of the world's earlit known homosexual act.

A team of Czech archaeologists claim to have unearthed the remas of an early gay man om around 2900-2500 B. Acrdg to the Telegraph, the "gay veman" was found buried a way normally rerved only for women durg the Copper Age.

"Far more likely is that he was a man wh a different sexual orientatn, homosexual or transvte.

GAY CAVEMAN FOUND

In addn, she noted Siberian shamans, or latter-day wch doctors, were buried a siar fashn to the "gay veman, " but ually wh richer funeral accsori to pict a higher social stat, the Daily Mail is reportg.

SCIENTISTS SPEAK OUT TO DISCRED 'GAY VEMAN' MEDIA REPORTS

"But this later disvery was neher of those, leadg to believe the man was probably homosexual or transsexual, " Semeradova is also quoted by the Telegraph as sayg. PRAGUE – Czech archaeologists have unearthed the remas of an early gay man om around 2900-2500 B. Archaeologists Prague have unvered a Stone-Age man buried a posn ually rerved for women — and rearchers have nfirmed the existence of a “gay veman.

“Far more likely is that he was a man wh a different sexual orientatn, homosexual or transvte. In addn, she noted Siberian shamans, or latter-day wch doctors, were buried a siar fashn to the “gay veman, ” but ually wh richer funeral accsori to pict a higher social stat. “But this later disvery was neher of those, leadg to believe the man was probably homosexual or transsexual, ” Semeradova said.

STORY HIGHLIGHTSThey say the media has overblown fdgs om an archaeologil digCzech archaeologists have found a "transsexual" or "third genr grave"Sexual orientatn nnot be termed om a skeleton, paleoanthropologist saysThe term "veman" pertas to people who lived long before the unearthed remas (CNN) -- Reports that surfaced last week about the remas of a "gay veman" found the Czech Republic have prompted scientists to take on an unlikely foe -- an overhyped news media that may be overblowg the archaeologil fd.

'GAY CAVEMAN' STORY OVERBLOWN, ARCHAEOLOGISTS SAY

I uld be wrong, but I thk that to have a 'gay veman, ' you need a skeleton that is both gay and a veman. What followed were dozens of headl om ternatnal news anizatns clarg that a "gay veman" had been found. And while acknowledgg the "unual" circumstanc of the burial, Hawks said there is no way you n tell someone is homosexual by examg a skeleton.

"In anthropology, you n't equate third genr wh homosexualy, " he said. Krista Killgrove, an adjunct assistant profsor at the Universy of North Carola, raised siar ncerns, sayg that g the term "gay" to scribe the man is "the applitn of a morn word to an ancient populatn. "We found one very specific grave of a man lyg the posn of a woman, whout genr specific grave goods, neher jewelry or weapons, " lead archaeologist Kaa Remisova Vova of the Czech Archaeologil Society told Prs gay, not a vemanVova and her lleagu told reporters that the man may have belonged to a "third genr.

[5 Myths About Gay People Debunked]The skeleton has been tmpeted the media as belongg to a "homosexual veman, " but some archaeologists are skeptil.

WHAT THE "GAY CAVEMAN" STORY DON'T TELL US ABOUT SEXUAL VARIABILY

For one thg, the plexy of the third-genr ncept mak llg the skeleton "gay" an oversimplifitn, Krista Killgrove, an anthropologist at the Universy of North Carola, wrote her blog, Bone Girl.

"If this burial reprents a transgenred dividual (as well uld), that don't necsarily mean the person had a 'different sexual orientatn' and certaly don't mean that he would have nsired himself (or that his culture would have nsired him) 'homosexual, '" Killgrove wrote.

"The realy of this is gog to be far more plited than, 'This dividual was gay, '" Dobson told only is "gay" an oversimplifitn, "veman" is flat-out accurate, said John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the Universy of Wisns, Madison. Grave of Stone Age ‘genr benr' exvated Prague: Archaeologists have unearthed a unique late Stone Age grave of a ‘transsexual or gay man' a suburb of the Czech pal.