Posted on 02/21/2019 6:54:32 AM PST by BenLurkin
Normally they can identify a female skeleton by the spacing in the pelvic bones, and the brow of the skull, along with other features on the skull. The problem is that not all burials are intact, and the only way you can be absolutely sure, is to do DNA testing if at all possible. It fascinates me that they can now even tell where a person most likely came from, and what their diet was. It's also amazing how they can recreate the image of a person by placing muscle and tissue onto a skull that has been recreated by laser scanning the original...even when not all of it is there.
Thanks, Lurkin.
*PING* to Sunken.
Pardon me for the long extract below. Note that this extract, like the one you provided, comes from the follow-up article published several years after the original study report. The extract is, in fact, the concluding paragraphs to the article. The author was replying to criticisms from the archaeology community. It serves as a good explanation of the study team’s motivations and why they felt limited in their ability to make assertions beyond where their data took them. Of course, given the subject and the article having been written in the early 21st century, the text contains references to academic study areas that are going to set some conservative readers’ teeth on edge. It is probable that left/liberal critics were equally upset at their reluctance to engage in feminist/transgender/queer fantasizing about female warrior societies, etc.
Direct links to both articles are given below after the extract:
“We have not ‘gone looking’ for female Viking warriors. The case of Bj.581 arose after the discrepancy in sex determination was discovered through Kjellström’s original study on the Mälar population (see the OSM); since then, we have followed the trail of data and analysis. Similarly, the DNA work that confirmed the female sex of the individual was part of a much larger genomic study, not specifically directed at Bj.581. We feel no intrinsic need for there to have been a female warrior buried in the grave, nor for such individuals to have existed more widely. We simply find it interesting that this seems to have been the case. In the course of our research—and even more so after the 2017 publication—it has been enlightening to discover how many people apparently need that not to be so.
Time will prove us right or wrong, but we think it probable that more Viking Age female warriors will be found in the archaeological record—either as new discoveries or as reinterpretations of old finds, perhaps using genomics, as we have done. Given the enormous numbers of buried individuals from this period that have been sexed only indirectly using associated artefacts, it is even possible that female warriors will eventually appear in some quantity. Currently, the figure of the woman with weapons seems to be an exception, but this does not mean that she can be deconstructed out of existence—especially on the basis of Pavlovian scepticism. She adjusts and nuances our interpretations, and challenges our stereotypes. She adds still further dimensions to our understanding of the Viking Age as a time of critical cultural transformation and social encounter.
Clearly, the investigation of Bj.581 has relevance for archaeological studies of gender (including feminist and queer theory), violence, mortuary behaviour, symbolism and many other fields, both in general and with specific reference to the Viking Age. At the same time, the relatively meagre data from this single, unusual (and exceptional?) grave cannot be made to bear an infinite burden of expectation and agenda—whether in support of, or in resistance to, our conclusions. This article is not, and for practical reasons cannot be, an attempt to achieve a greater understanding of Viking Age sex/gender systems in their totality. Instead, this is a case study that, in some ways, presents more questions than answers, but which also opens up previously unexpected possibilities. Not least, we stand before the collective corpus of excavated Viking Age burials with an urgent task of patient and careful reassessment, in relation to not only gender, but also concerning the social signals encoded within every aspect of funerary ritual. In the specific case of Bj.581, of course, one may draw different conclusions, but the integrity of the grave and the biological sex determination are secure. It is now for others to decide how they deal with the wider implications.”
Article links:
Original study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajpa.23308
Follow-up article:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/viking-warrior-women-reassessing-birka-chamber-grave-bj581/7CC691F69FAE51DDE905D27E049FADCD/core-reader
The 10th-century grave, known as Bj. 581...
?!? What kind of pervs are excavating this?!? /jk
Archaeologists need something to do during the “down time” portions of a dig.
Thanks grey_whiskers. I've been working on an Etrucscan topic for a few days, while not 1) sleeping 2) working 3) eating and 4) well, nothing. It'll relate very nicely with this one, so now I'm considering just posting it in here as a sidebar. Other topics on deck are related to three different Neolithic prehistory news bits.
—— while not 1) sleeping 2) working 3) eating and 4) well, nothing.——
Please remember that those of us on your list value your efforts very highly
Cool. I thought “shield maidens” were a myth.
Thanks bert, heh, I wasn't complaining though, I was just smartin' off at my own expense. My scrape with sudden, unexpected symptoms last week actually improved my attitude about things in geneeral. Also, despite the tottering on of winter in the always-lousy month of February, I'm starting to feel that nice, odd, intangible feeling that Spring is starting to wake. Sycamore trees start to give off a nice smell right at the end of winter, I've got to go visit some of those. Where I used to work the street had a bunch of 'em, and the long walk from parking took me right by them.
“down time”, LOL!
Sweden does have a legend about Blenda and her army of 500 women.
The men were away in Norway, and the Geats took the opportunity to invade from Denmark.
Blenda called the women to war. They went to the Geats and said, oh, you are real men. Will you come feast with us?
The women got the Geats and sleeping and then they killed them, and were handsomely rewarded by the returning king.
Like Judith and Jael, only en masse.
Beowulf was a Geat, IIRC.
love redheads
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
