CW: transphobia
Archaeology needs to adapt to the changes in society, or risk being completely irrelevant. We cannot carry on with interpretations limited by whiteness, colonialism, racism, heteronormativity, political ideologies, and binary ideas of sex and gender.
Archaeology of the Future is a thought experiment to consider what the future of the discipline may look like in a range of areas, beginning with interpreting trans burials.
As a person who (sadly) uses Twitter I have noticed a recurring comment being made that uses archaeology to justify transphobia. These commenters do not seem to be archaeologists, but the discipline is often referenced in transphobic conversations for reasons that are, to be honest, baffling. At what point did archaeology become weaponised in this way, and who decided that archaeological ideas of sex and gender should be seen as more important than medical ones- or most significantly the ideas of the people who are themselves trans?
Archaeology is a discipline that aims to respect the difference between sex and gender, uses a scaled system of characteristics to attribute sex, and values the significance of items interred with individuals as indicators of gender. On the other hand, it is a practice where modern methodologies derive from extremely problematic individuals (looking at you Calvin Wells) and allows sexist and heteronormative narratives to persist into our current interpretations. The relationship between sex and gender in archaeology is improving, but not perfect. The point of this blog is to consider the public misuse of archaeological understanding of gender- namely this sort of hate being directed at transgender (including non-binary) people:
Small sample of tweets referencing archaeologists identifying gender, identifiable information has been removed.
Firstly, it is worth saying that this is nowhere near the worst thing that is said to trans people. Most will sadly see this as a minor act of hatred, a ridiculous scenario that does not concern them. But as an archaeologist, queer person, and trans-ally these sorts of comment makes me both sad and angry. Our profession cannot be used to spread this intolerance and hatred- especially when it is not true. It only takes a brief scroll through Twitter to see that there will be at least one transphobe posting something similar every single day, showing how pervasive these myths are.
Archaeologists need to be better allies, and we can do so through sharing our processes and clarifying that we KNOW sex and gender are different. No, we don’t only find ‘male’ and ‘female’ skeletons, everything is rated on a scale and we often come up with no answer or only ‘probable’ because sex is not a strict set of biological traits that happen to form a binary. We have already begun to shed the belief in big, robust men and small, gracile women as these ideas were rooted in sexism and did not translate to the archaeological record. As trans rights come to the forefront of modern society, I believe that our current sexing techniques will one day be looked back on with the same level of disbelief as these old, sexist methods for reinforcing binary ideas.
To this end I have thought about the future of sex determination in archaeology, beyond our current osteological and funerary evaluations, and what might influence our understanding of trans people:
Hormone treatment’s effect on bones
Whilst HRT is difficult to obtain, with long waiting lists and a series of unfair restrictive hoops to jump through before access is allowed, many transgender people choose to take hormone treatments. As mentioned, sex determination from bones is already a matter of likeliness rather than certainty and we see different factors influencing our ability to sex an individual. The medical community have shown that the density of bones change in transgender women who take oestrogen, but little substantial research has been undertaken into long-term effects on bones when hormones are altered.
Puberty blockers and hormone therapy from a young age should make this simple. As puberty is the point in which skeletons begin to show sexual dimorphism it stands to reason that an individual who undergoes puberty as their gender will develop a skeleton that reflects this. Excitingly, early medical studies seem to be confirming this! As HRT becomes more common and more young transgender people have access to gender affirming hormones from a young age, it is more likely that osteological evaluations will align with the gender of an individual.
In older women, menopause and the drop in oestrogen means that the features we examine on the skull change into more typically ‘masculine’ forms, so archaeologists are no strangers to the influence of hormones on the body. This is an area that archaeologists should pay particular interest to when considering the future of transgender archaeology, as early introduction and sustained use of hormones may have a significant impact on the physiology of bones.
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is not accessible to all, but there are some members of the trans community who are willing and able to physically alter their appearance for gender affirmation. When excavating in the future, it would be bizarre to dismiss obvious remnants of plastic surgery and falsely identifying someone as a certain sex based on their bone structure. ‘Plastic’ here is the operative word, the vinyl sacks that are used in procedures such as breast and bum implants will last long after flesh has gone. Limitations to this of course exist, but in the cases where plastic has been used for gendered features, such as creating breasts, an archaeologist will be aware that an individual’s concept of gender and their own gender identity were not necessarily what their bones will say.
Digital Records
Hormone treatments and plastic surgery are two ways in which future archaeologists may be able to identify trans individuals, but these are not necessary for a person to identify as trans and many people may not choose to alter their bodies in any way. This is where the documentation of the 21st century will be useful. From surveillance states to social media, doctors records to the census, our data is recorded constantly. You cannot log in to a wifi network without providing your name, gender, date of birth, home address, soul of your firstborn, etc. etc. This information will be available to future researchers, enabling self-identification in a completely revolutionary way for bioarchaeology. This extends beyond the historical record, which largely focused on prominent (rich) individuals, and gives a voice to anyone recorded as living within our society. As technology develops, we might see even more personal tech that will end up with our remains. It might seem dystopic, but human enhancements are moving from sci-fi into the real world and it seems incredibly likely that we will end up chipped and roboticised, on our way to cyborgs in no time. This information would reside with us after death and would be as readable, if not more so, than the stories that archaeologists can take from bones.
Acceptance of sex and gender divides
Finally, it is important to remember that archaeologists are trying to do good. Whilst there will inevitably be some transphobic people within the discipline, in general the differences between sex and gender are recognised by those in the field and attempts are made at being as inclusive as possible. Excellent networks such as Queer Archaeology are supporting LGBTQ+ people and promoting the inclusion of queer interpretations in our work. Recent publications about trans, non-binary, and intersex burials are beginning to shine a light on the lack of nuance within interpretations and the influences of modern, binary thinking on our understanding of the past.
The thought that archaeology upholds transphobia is alarming, and more action needs to be taken by archaeologists to communicate the realities of our research and stand in solidarity with the trans community. As trans people are increasingly targeted, online and in-person, it is our responsibility to not allow this false information to be promoted and to support trans people where we can.
Archaeology really makes up an insignificant portion of the hatred that trans people receive, but as archaeologists we need to be involved in making that even smaller. For other ways to help, why not support one of the excellent LGBT+ charities below:
The Proud Trust - home of LGBT+ youth
Stonewall - fighting for all LGBT+ people
Mermaids - helping gender diverse kids
Switchboard - LGBT+ helpline