Posted on 02/12/2022 2:21:25 PM PST by nickcarraway
From gender changing priests to coin hoards owned by LGBT+ emperors - archaeological finds suggest that Wales' ancient history could be filled with LGBT+ life
When you think of ancient Wales, your mind probably doesn't jump to LGBT+ history.
However, a series of archaeological finds point to a very different look at our history. With evidence of gender-variant priests and emperors, our Welsh history could be filled with more LGBT+ figures than we initially thought.
These discoveries formed part of a series of talks exploring LGBT+ history and the evidence that can be found in Wales by independent researcher, Dr Alessandro Ceccarelli, to mark LGBT+ History Month.
Using items from National Museum Wales collections, Dr Ceccarelli - an Affiliated Scholar at the University of Cambridge but based in Cardiff - also described the little-known stories behind items celebrating LGBT+ figures found across Wales, including items from Caerleon, Llanvaches and the Vale of Glamorgan.
One find from Wales sheds light on the followers of Greek-Roman god Attis, which mythology remembers as the “consort” of the mother goddess and harvest goddess Cybele. Attis was known as both a “male” and “female” god in certain texts and had a religious following of “Galli” priests. They were known as “gender-variant” priests, sometimes depicted as neither man or woman. Some of their depictions represent them wearing clothes and ornaments often associated with femininity in Ancient Rome, wearing makeup and changing their hair colour.
The head of a sculpture found in Caerleon, near Newport, points to the existence of the cult of Attis, and potentially Galli priests in ancient Wales too. The sculpture depicts the face framed by curly hair and crowned by a cone-shaped cap.
Dr Ceccarelli said: “Archaeology can tell us about sexual orientations and gender identities in ancient Wales - and further afield - and about experiences that are still unexplored. It is not just modern history that can tell us about the lives and experiences of LGBT+ people.
“Archaeological evidence allows us to travel back in time for thousands of years, rediscovering ancient, diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. However, it is not an easy journey, as it is often really fragmented.
“But where it exists, it really shines a light on the diverse stories of people who lived in ancient societies, and would sound very familiar to those who identify as LGBT+ today.
“But similar statues, altars to Cybele, and evidence for their cults were not exclusive of Wales, as they were also found across the UK. For instance, archaeological evidence of this cult was found in Chesters Roman Fort and Corbridge, on Hadrian’s Wall, and in Catterick in North Yorkshire.
"So we can see that there was relatively widespread knowledge of individuals with diverse gender identities and expressions in Wales and Britain at least as old as the early centuries CE. It is a notion of gender that many modern people would now relate with transgender and non-binary.”
A hoard of more than 300 coins was found in Sully Moors in the Vale of Glamorgan in the late 19th Century, which shows Emperor Elagabalus. Elagabalus was reported to be sometimes referred to as a man, but historians also wrote that they identified as, and asked to be regarded as, a woman. They used to shave their body hair, wear make-up and wigs, and rejected being called a lord. Other evidence suggests that they asked physicians to change their body, promising them a lot of money to do so. Some details about a relationship with a charioteer called Hierocles are available, and a potential marriage to him.
"These archaeological finds give us a glimpse into untold LGBTQ+ stories and histories that are little-known to people today,” Dr Ceccarelli said.
“History Month is an important reminder that LGBTQ+ people have always existed and that their stories need to be told as much as everyone else’s”.
More propaganda to give the impression that it’s always been popular and natural. Complete bs.
The importance of this research can’t be overstated...
"They" = "he". Also Elagabalus was widely considered by his contemporaries to be batshit nuts. So there's that.
Joseph Ali, Community Reporter, future Pulitzer’s winner!
I have no trouble believing that there were open queers in pagan society, although I wouldn’t be surprised if the researchers are giving ambiguous evidence a spin to appease to current leftist sensibilities.
**please** what bullshit!
Wales is so gay there’s no “H” in it! 🐑🤪
Wherever they look … they find “evidence” that affirms their beliefs.
They are guilty of looking at the world through queer-colored glasses.
No such thing exists.
Didn’t Elagabalus worship a black rock as a god?
I much prefer this archeological discovery.
A small excerpt:
Light from the shaft caught the area around the handle on the tomb door. Upon closer inspection,
Carson discovered that the sacred seal, which was traditionally placed on the door following burial
rites, was still in place. Thunderstruck, he realized he was on the threshold of history. The mysterious
burial customs of the late North Americans were finally to be revealed.
Beyond the mentioned activities he whored himself out for fun. Offed per a plot engineered by his grandmother, an early transphobe
So Butt Forking has been around a long time. Who knew?
The logical fallacy of historical precedent.
There are a whole bunch of things the ancients did that should never be done again.
A bit assumption about Elagabalus’s pronouns there, I think.
A small excerpt: Light from the shaft caught the area around the handle on the tomb door. Upon closer inspection, Carson discovered that the sacred seal, which was traditionally placed on the door following burial rites, was still in place. Thunderstruck, he realized he was on the threshold of history. The mysterious burial customs of the late North Americans were finally to be revealed.
How about that T stuff? Ancient trans-surgery to turn functioning vaginas into non-functioning faux-penises and ancient trans-surgery to turn functioning penises into non-functioning faux-vaginas? It's sure the screams during trans-surgery "were heard miles around."
A comment to the Wales Online article: "What load of tripe. yeh, there may have been some queer priests, but for 99.9999% of the population that actually made Wales would never have heard, seen or even known what a LGBT is. Why do we have this tosh thrust down our throats do we have equally have tales of how straight men dug the coal, mined the slate, ploughed the fields, fought the wars etc. ."
Yes this has been around for thousands of years. The Bible talks about how men should not wear women’s clothes and women should not wear men’s clothes. And there’s plenty written about homosexuality, incest, bestiality. Oh, and God despises it all!
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