"Gay Caveman"... Really?

Reading news articles about the “Gay Caveman” became very annoying within a very short period of time. Not only were the articles very limited in their scope and vocabulary, but most of them were nearly identical – likely due to the nature of getting the story out as quickly as possible which prohibits any actual research (or thinking) from being done. 

Refreshingly, I eventually came across an anthropologist’s blog, Rosemary Joyce, who is currently a professor at UC Berkeley and is an expert in sex and gender in archaeology.  Before reading her thoughts on the subject, I had formed my own opinions about the “Caveman”:

   

       1.) Clearly, an individual from the Corded Ware Culture (2900-2500BC) is not a “caveman” and it is obvious to me that the articles using the terms “gay” and “homosexual” are doing so to grab their audience’s attention.

       2.) The sexing of the skeleton may be incorrect. 

       3.) One cannot make assumptions about an individual’s personal sexual preference based on such little evidence about that individual or the culture.

       4.) It's more likely to be a third gender, significant individual or special circumstance.

However, Rosemary Joyce brought up a very excellent point that I had not considered. She says that in order to recognize third-gender individuals, we need to:

Not simply… look for a reversal, a kind of cross-sex pattern, but for something that really constitutes a third category. The Czech burial, even if we accept the sexing, does not show a third pattern. And in that very lack of other differentiation I find the greatest cause to be cautious about what might otherwise be an interesting example, one we could add to other such examples, of burial patterning that challenges the two sex/two gender model.

She bases this reasoning on studies from more recent cultures. For example, historic California Native American societies which gave third-gender individuals ‘specialized roles’ rather than a simple ‘role reversal’.

I found Joyce’s thoughts on this to be very interesting – especially when dealing with the case of the ‘gay caveman’. Based on her thoughts I would probably rule out the potential of a third-gender and I really don’t believe there is enough evidence to support the ‘homosexual hypothesis’. So maybe it really is an issue of improper sexing? Interesting none the less!

Joyce, Rosemary., 2011. “Gay Caveman”: Wrecking a perfectly good story. Ancient Bodies, Ancient Lives Word Press [blog] 7 April. Available at: <http://ancientbodies.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/gay-caveman-wrecking-a-perfectly-good-story/> [Accessed 25 February 2012].

Image: 

Masty, Steven., 2011. TIC Science Update: Gay Caveman Identified. The Imaginative Conservative Science Blog [blog] 15 April. Available at: <http://www.imaginativeconservative.org/2011/04/tic-science-update-gay-caveman.html> [Accessed 28 April 2012].

For our Monument Analysis project we decided to focus on Pioneer Square, or the Old Burying Ground, next to the Christ Church Cathedral on Quadra Street. I have visited the site before – several years ago – but never for research purposes.  It was refreshing see the park in a different perspective.

While many features of the site caught my attention, I found what struck me the most about Pioneer Square was the predominance of Naval/ Military/Police memorials that are placed in central positions throughout the site. I thought it was strange to add these very large monuments into a retired graveyard where many of the original stones have been relocated to a cramped position at the back of the park. Therefore, my questions are as follows: what is the relevance of military memorials to this particular place? And furthermore: what are the general attitudes regarding the placement and dominance of these monuments amongst the older established graves?

After doing some research I found that despite seeing only one original naval memorial (the Sutlej Memorial from 1866) at the site, there are actually over fifty British Sailors buried at the grounds (OCS, 2012). Naval burials occurred at Pioneer Square from its opening year in 1855 until 1868 (OCS, 2012). Unfortunately, those buried in the ‘Naval Corner’ of Pioneer Square were neglected and their grave markers left to deteriorate.  Below is a photograph taken from the Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria’s website which depicts the original Naval Corner with the HMS Sutlej monument from approximately 1866 - 1870. The public eventually became outraged at the state of the burial site and so the Canadian Naval Society commissioned the erection of a large granite memorial (OCS, 2012).  This information helps answer my first question regarding the relevance of military/naval monuments. I must assume that the other military markers (aviation, police, etc.) are included at the site due to the naval history there as well.

Along with a large number of naval personnel buried at Pioneer Square, there are reportedly 1300 individuals laid to rest there in total. This brings me back to my second question: what are the general attitudes regarding the placement and dominance of these monuments amongst the older established graves? With so many people buried at Pioneer Square with unknown or no affiliation to the military/navy/air force etc., is it appropriate to place a cenotaph larger and more central than all of the other monuments and dedicate it to the Canadian Scottish Regiment (seen below)? I do not think that I can answer this question as it requires deeper research into the creation, patronage, and ceremony surrounding the erection of this particular monument. However I do believe the placement is connected to the status of Pioneer Square as a park rather than graveyard – this distinction, I believe, diminishes the feeling of ‘sacredness’ from the grave site. Public monuments are very common in public parks.

The creation and upkeep of several ‘new’ monuments at Pioneer Square may also be a reaction to the neglect and deterioration that the Old Burial Ground previously suffered. These new monuments may be a way to renew certain obligations between the living and the dead (Barrett 1990, p.187). Therefore, the presence and appearance of these monuments act as a means of communicating the historical importance of the people buried there as well as space itself.

1.       Barrett, J. (1990) The monumentality of death: The character of early bronze age mortuary mounds in Southern Britain. World Archaeology: 22(2): 179-189.

2.       Pioneer Square - Victoria BC. 2012. Pioneer Square - Victoria BC. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.oldcem.bc.ca/psp/html/reports/history/index.htm. [Accessed 20 February 2012].

So the funny thing about being in a class about death is that as soon as you tell people about it, they begin to tell you their own creepy, weird death stories that they’ve encountered. This is how I came to learn about Japan’s ‘Suicide Forest’ also known as the Aokigahara Forest located at the base of Mt. Fuji.  

This place is what nightmares are made of. Hundreds of people have come here to commit suicide; for three decades a small task force of police and volunteers have been doing annual ‘Death Harvests’ to collect the bodies of those who have successfully managed to kill themselves in the forest.  In the past, the Harvest has collected up to as many as 70 bodies while many others are found throughout the year by people walking or hiking in the forest (who on earth would go walking in this forest? That’s what I want to know).  It has become such an issue that the Japanese government has commissioned signs to be scattered throughout the woods that read things like: “Your life is a precious gift from your parents. Don’t keep your worries to yourself – please seek counseling”.

There are other places in the world where abnormal amounts of suicides take place as well, for example, the Golden Gate Bridge has the highest occurrence of suicides than anywhere else in the world. In fact, there is a great documentary entitled “The Bridge” from 2006 that focuses on the Bridge and its jumpers (it’s a really interesting film, I recommend it). 

So while Aokigahara Forest is not so unusual in this respect, what I find really interesting is why so many people are attracted to this location for the purpose of ending their lives.  Unlike the Golden Gate Bridge, the Aokigahara Forest became popular for suicides after a bestselling novel was written in 1960 by Seicho Matsumoto in which the main characters commit suicide together in the Suicide Forest. Since the novel became popular, suicide rates in the forest skyrocketed.

Of course there are other factors that play a role in encouraging suicide at Aokigahara Forest, but I find the amount of influence a simple piece of popular culture has on suicide rates to be very frightening.  You have to wonder what this says about society in general.

"Japan's harvest of death". The Independent (London). 2000-10-24. Retrieved 2012-02-12.

Grave Goods

So a few days ago I decided to take a stab at the grave goods blog prompt from Erin. I thought it would be fun... little did I know that this subject has a secret hidden ninja ability to make me hyper emotional and teary eyed within minutes. It’s not deciding what I would like to be buried with that’s the hard part – what really gets me is picturing my poor little mom crying while placing my old favorite stuffed animal in with me. Oh god, it’s happening again, full on runny nose and watery eyes in the library. Maybe I’ll skip over that part and focus on my own choice of objects instead.

This part is a little tricky. Inanimate objects don’t hold much long lasting meaning for me. Due to frequent moves and changing interests, many of my belongings have come and gone throughout the last 5 years.  I have also lost, ripped, broken, and spilled on a lot of my favourite things and so I’ve learned to not let myself become too attached to belongings.  However, there are a few possessions that I have held onto and taken very good care of.

I have my four house plants that I’ve raised and cherished, but I can hardly imagine having them ritually sacrificed and buried with me, so that’s out. My down duvet is by far one of my most beloved objects, but I suspect I won’t be too worried about comfort once I’m 6ft under.  I also have my beautiful art history textbooks that weigh around 8 pounds each that I painfully lug around with me to each new home. Those are possible grave keepers.

Honestly, if I were to drop dead tomorrow (knock on wood), I think I would be satisfied simply being buried in an outfit that I often wear with my favorite necklace, some photographs of me with my friends and loved ones, and a flask of rye whiskey. I don’t know how well these things would communicate my ‘identity’, but they make me happy.

Phew, made it through without crying again. Till next week!