The Fallacy of the Transgender Skeleton

Abstract

Gender variance is likely a cross-cultural phenomenon with deep antiquity that bioarchaeological data can document effectively. Yet, recent reports that have gone viral in mediascapes, the “transsexual” cavemen being one pointed example discussed in this chapter, should give investigators pause. That is, describing ancient socio-sexual lives as such complicates normative notions about the body, gender, and sexuality, but the designation is a fallacy since these terms are modern Western inventions. The use of trans- more generally to describe identities or experiences in the bioarchaeological record points to effacement of recent sociopolitical processes, as well as a disregard for dimensions of sex/gender systems that are contingent and dynamic.