Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Skeletal analysis and theoretical complications

2005; Routledge; Volume: 37; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00438240500404391

1470-1375

Pamela L. Geller,

Forensic and Genetic Research

Abstract Archaeologists – feminist or otherwise – use biologically sexed human remains to make inferences about cultures' conceptions of gender. Creating an easy link between 'sex' and 'gender', however, is not without problems. Recent debates within the social sciences have centered on the evolving, historical definition and cultural relevance of both of these terms. Interestingly, skeletal analysts' voices tend to remain silent in this debate. What do paradigmatic twists and turns in feminist and queer theorizing mean for burial analysis? To answer this question, I advocate a bioarchaeological approach that facilitates reconciliation of biological classifications, cultural constructions of gender and feminist theories that complicate 'sex' and 'gender'. As an example, I look to the pre-Columbian Maya. Keywords: Bioarchaeologygender/sexfeminist and queer theoriespre-Columbian Mayaperformance Acknowledgements An earlier version of this paper was originally presented at the 2004 Chacmool Archaeology Conference, Que(e)rying Archaeology. I would like to thank Kathryn Reese-Taylor and Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown for inviting me to participate in this conference. I would also like to thank Thomas Dowson for suggesting that I turn the conference presentation into a journal article. For the opportunity to work at Programme for Belize and permission to draw on its data, I thank Project Director Fred Valdez, as well as skeletal analysts Frank Saul and Julie Saul under whom I was apprenticed. I am grateful to Miranda Stockett for reading many, many drafts of this paper and offering insightful editorial commentary. Notes 1 The sub-pubic area of the pelvis is evaluated on a three-point scale, the greater sciatic notch and pre-auricular sulcus on a five-point scale (1–5 and 0–4, respectively), and cranial morphology on a five-point scale (Buikstra and Ubelaker Citation1994: 16–21). 2 While the 'wave' metaphor's utility is currently up for debate, I would argue that this framework presents a convenient heuristic device for understanding historical moments and generational cadres within the academy. The metaphor suggests an ebbing and flowing in which feminist practitioners push different issues to the fore – critiquing and expanding without rendering obsolete the concerns and conclusions of their predecessors. 3 'Gender' makes a brief appearance in de Beauvoir's work. In line with the classic linguistic use of the term, she also assigns feminine or masculine attributes to certain words or concepts: 'all linguists agree in recognizing that the assignment of genders to concrete words is purely accidental' (1952: 167). Her use of the term in this manner is perhaps more compatible with its Latin root, 'class', or 'distinction', or 'genre'. 4 The word hermaphrodite is currently regarded as a derogatory one, the correct description being intersexed. 5 Critics of this study have countered that these figures are too high, perhaps as a result of the loose definition of 'intersex' used. Leonard Sax (Citation2002: 174), for instance, narrowly defines intersex as occurring only when 'chromosomal sex is inconsistent with phenotypic sex'. His definition is based primarily upon those conditions that are observable to the clinician, and thus he maintains that intersexuality in actuality represents .018 per cent of live births. I would suggest that, regardless of definition and percentage, the reality of intersexuality cannot be denied. While intersex individuals are far from common, they are not a rare occurrence. They are a biological reality. 6 Though not in an Amerindian context, Chris Knüsel and Kathryn Ripley (Citation2000) have examined burials to argue that berdaches played a social role in Anglo-Saxon England and Early Medieval Europe. 7 Andrea Stone (Citation1988 Citation1991: 195) uses the term 'social impersonation'. 8 The na appellative is absent in references to Lady Zac Kul and Lady Ol Nal of Palenque and Lady Six Sky of Naranjo. The title of na bate is bestowed upon several high status women from Yaxchilan.