Archeology of Gender- Final Study guide

Nefertari: gender fluidity in tomb and Abu Simbel temple

- Adopted masculine characteristics of God Osiris
- absence of male counterpart from her tomb
- used masculine pronouns and portrayed with darker skin
- Her temple was commissioned by her husband, her pictures were on the same side as her husband
- she often wore headdress for kings

Teotihuacan: Temple of the Feathered Serpent burials

- 260 sacrificial victims
- mostly male; possibly elite foreign warriors
- males found with slate disks around their waist made of human jaws
-females adorned with shell ear plugs

Teotihuacan: gender through public art

• Clothing and attributes didn’t give clear idea

• Sexually ambiguous figures 

• public art did not depict genitalia

Maya: gender complementarity

 the idea of interdependence between gender roles in different activities, each gender plays a separate role but both are of equal importance for society as a whole to run smoothly

Maya: gender roles through art

 there was gender fluidity seen in elite art(men: bloodletting which was typically a female role associated with fertility; woman: in military attire which is typically associated as a male role)

Aztec: life cycle

• Clear gender divisions from birth

• Childbirth rituals:

  • Female symbols: spindle, basket, broom

  • Male: shield, arrow, feathers, book

• Education and occupation decided by parents during first month of life

Viking: Valkyrie

• Supernatural beings who chose the bravest warriors that had died in the battlefirld

• Female characteristics with a sword(male)

• Potential third gender(?)

Viking: Birka burial

• Grave goods: equipment of a warrior

• Originally ruled male, DNA analysis determined it was actually a female

• Calvary commander

• 75/>1000 burials contained weapons

Viking: Oseberg burial

• Two bodies interpreted as queen/princess and servant

• Found with tapestries with ritual possessions, rattles, staffs, kitchen equipment, 14 horses, and ox, three dogs, a wooden cart, and decorated sleighs

• Confusion on who they were: women of equal status? Political leaders? Religious specialists?- leadership roles not initial considered bc it was two women

Chumash: tomol

• Plank canoes

• Specialized building knowledge and navigation

• ‘Brotherhood’

• Allowed to navigate the Channel Islands safely

• Most expensive possession- gave owners power

Chumash: aqi’

• Two-spirits

• Post menopausal women and third-gender males

• Non-procreation

• “Fake” kinship ties to pass craft specialization knowledge

• Undertakers

• Ensured proper disposal of bodies

• Presided over graveside ceremony

• Filled baskets with dirt for burial

• Limited number of ‘aqi per village

• Unknown what happens after serving

Hidatsa: matrilocal residence pattern

• Children taught to speak the language of their mother

• Household composition: parents, daughters with their husband, unmarried children and usually a few orphans

• Extended families lived in earth lodges

Hidatsa: miati

• mia=woman; ti= desire or involuntary inclination

• Biologically males

• Links to powerful deities 

Moche: Huaca de la Luna burials

• Mass sacrifice of about 70 young adult males (15–30 years old)

• At least five distinct sacrificial episodes

• Victims were captured warriors (prisoners of war) taken during elite ritual combat

• Demonstrates that Moche iconography, including the “Sacrifice Ceremony,” represents actual ritual practices

• Sacrifice was part of ritual performance linking warfare, religion, and political power

• Events may be related to El Niño climatic disruption, used to appease gods during environmental stress

• Reflects a society where warfare was symbolic, and sacrificing captured warriors reinforced elite authority

Moche: Sacrifice Ceremony or Presentation Ceremony

• Rich burials may represent characters from sacrifice ceremony

• Both men and women could have ritual and political positions

• Prisoners of war were sacrificed: blood in goblet

• Burials show that sacrifice ceremony characters were likely real

Moche: Lady of Cao

• Buried with weapons and weaving tools

• Died in her 20s from complications related to childbirth

• Tattoos of spiders, snakes,and  supernatural motifs support the idea that she was of high status

Why did Lady of Cao challenge some gender ideals

 because her burial and associated artifacts revealed political, religious, and military authority that Moche society was long assumed to reserve for elite men.

 When did kids become proficient at household tasks in Aztec society

7-10 years old

Maya: specific gender roles of men and women

• Men: hunting, war, ballgame(political and ritualistic importance), artists and scribes, bureaucrats, 

• Women: food preparation, artists/scribes?, midwifery, production of textiles

• Tempantilta murals

• Tripod cylinder vessels

• 1)Originally thought to have fertility imagery

• ambiguous

• “Great Goddess” → Water mountain

• spiders=weaving=feminity

• butterflies=souls of dead warriors=masculinity

• 2) focused on collectivity not so much gender