Queer Archaeology

Archaeology faces the unique challenge of stretching social theories of sexuality in new chronological and methodological directions. This essay uses an analysis of citational practices to consider how feminist and queer theories articulate with archaeological investigations of sexuality. Both
queer theories and feminist archaeological practices are shown to be powerful tools that can be used to expand archaeological interpretations of gender and sexuality.

Because of my conference papers and teaching in queer archaeology and heritage, I am often asked to provide students with academic reading material on queer and LGBTQ identities in archaeology, museums, heritage sites, and archives. The attached reading list collates these readings. While the list is not exhaustive, it combines sources from a wide range of disciplines, regions, and perspectives that I found helpful in understanding queer identities, histories, and culture as they relate specifically to the interpretation of material culture and legacies across time. A key reading is highlighted at the beginning of each section.

During the 19th century, sublime depictions of North American mounds captivated Euro-American colonists and Romantic travelers. Settlers frequently embedded farms and homesteads into the material fabric of these Indigenous ruins across the American Bottom region and surrounding uplands, uncovering traces of antiquity in the process. Focusing on the Emerald mound site and broader mound discourses, I examine how material intimacies underlying this 19th-century phenomenon periodically corrupted Romantic sensibilities. Specifically, I highlight aspects of archival and spatial data that capture fleeting moments when mound intercourse generated uncanny affects and queer temporalities. I argue that in moments when uncanny affects haunted colonial homes, Indigenous histories queered the tense of settler colonialism.

RESUMEN Las figurillas antropomorfas de data prehispánica producidas a lo largo de milenios en la costa ecuatoriana constituyen un enorme contendor de información social. Pocos han sido hasta el momento, sin embargo, los estudios iconográficos rigurosos sobre las mismas, y prácticamente ninguno ha centrado su enfoque en las concepciones de género que encierran. El presente artículo resume las reflexiones y los avances de un proyecto que pretende abordar este tópico, dando especial valor a una aproximación multivocal, que enriquezca al análisis iconográfico con los aportes de diferentes personas ajenas a la academia y a los métodos científicos de análisis. ABSTRACT The anthropomorphic figurines of prehispanic age produced over millennia on the Ecuadorian coast constitute a large repository of social information. Limited, however, have been rigorous iconographic studies on them, and practically none have centered their focus on the conceptions of gender that they contain. This article summarizes the reflections and advances of a project that aims to address this topic, giving special value to a multivocal approach, which enriches the iconographic analysis with contributions from different people far removed from academia and the scientific methods of analysis. RESUMO As figuras antropomórficas de dados pré-hispânicos produzidos ao longo de milênios na costa equatoriana constituem um enorme contêiner de informações sociais. Poucos, no entanto, foram rigorosos estudos iconográficos sobre eles, e praticamente nenhum concentrou seu foco nas concepções de gênero que eles contêm. Este artigo resume as reflexões e avanços de um projeto que visa abordar este tema, dando valor especial a uma abordagem multivocal, que enriquece a análise iconográfica com as contribuições de diferentes pessoas fora da academia e os métodos científicos de análise. "La arquitectura corporal es política". Paúl Beatriz Preciado (Manifiesto contrasexual) Una década y media mirando, una y otra vez, las piezas arqueológicas de la costa ecuatoriana. Fantásticas figurillas con seres impresionantes; algunos reconocibles 1 Profesora-investigadora. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.

A queer archaeology is often equated to looking for ancient homosexuality.  As a challenge to heteronormative practice, queer theory, instead, provides a framework for engaging with all aspects of identity formation and the processes and behaviors that mediate it.  This article examines how queer theory can inform discussions of  archaeological identity, first with respect to its place in broader feminist and archaeological literature; second in its correspondence to theoretical models of identity formation and the construction of difference; and finally in its applicability to models of ancient Maya social organization and commoner identity.

A queer theory inspired perspective is valuable not only for broadening the scope of archaeological interpretation and our understanding of past lived experiences, but also for informing an archaeological pedagogy which expands the diversity of authoritative viewpoints in the discipline. Field schools, as one of the most central aspects of archaeological training, have the potential to either reaffirm heteronormative structures which obscure non-conforming persons and viewpoints or to promote inclusive practices that can benefit the field by expanding the range of experiences, perspectives, and voices in the archaeological discussion. This paper will discuss specific ways in which an explicitly queer-informed field school acts to create a safe space where inclusion is based on analytic archaeological potential rather than correct conformation to perceived social norms.

Modern heteronormative views of sex and gender largely influenced examination and interpretation of sex/gender on the Early Bronze Age Mokrin necropolis in previous studies. The “normative“ burial treatment on Mokrin necropolis was defined on the basis of heteronormative views of biological sex and gender: male individuals were oriented north-south and females were oriented in the opposite direction, with appropriate grave goods. However, when the orientation was not the one expected for the osteological sex of the deceased, several explanations were given (wrong sex determination, gender not matching sex, not a community member, special status in the community etc.). It is clear that biological genital sex, read from the osteological sexing, was considered a primary category in engendering buried individuals, naturalizing a binary division of their bodies. This approach by default queers the body of an older osteologicaly male individual buried in grave no. 10, who was oriented south-north and buried with dress ornaments usually associated with adult osteological females: a pair of “Cypriote“ knot-headed pins, a neck-ring, four copper bracelets and two gold spiral hair-rings. Given the “reversed“ orientation and specific grave goods, some have even labelled this individual as “hyperfemale“. Why should we queer the body as non-normative if the osteological sex is different in comparison to other burials with the same body treatment? This paper provides a critical history of research of sex/gender on Mokrin necropolis based on queer theory. The number of sexes/genders cannot be assumed before the analyses are conducted; therefore this paper suggests multiple sexes/genders paradigm in approaching mortuary data in order to avoid a priori made conclusions about sex/gender system in Mokrin society. How materiality of the body and context of dress ornaments can be of great importance in approaching sex/gender on Mokrin necropolis is in this paper primarily discussed in the case of grave no. 10.

""The Dupljaja Cart and Bodies that Matter

One of the most frequently quoted Bronze Age artifacts in reconstructing cult and religion in European Bronze Age is certainly the Dupljaja Cart found in southern Banat, western Serbia. Previous interpretations of the figurine in the cart, and the whole cart group itself, are based on uncritical engendering of the figurine with de facto male genitals under a dress. Sex and gender of the figurine were never explicitly studied and as a consequence several interpretations emerged, some considering the figurine as male in female dress, some neglecting male genitals under the dress of the figurine and still considering it female. This work is based on the comparative contemporary Bronze Age figurine finds and dress ornaments and intends to more critically study sex/gender of the figurine in the cart using multiple sex/gender paradigm. It is discussed how different views of sex/gender of the figurine formed completely different, but in some ways similar narratives of the past. This work calls for a radical cross-dressing of this artifact and more explicitly formed theories of its embodied identity and queerness.

Key words: The Dupljaja cart, Bronze Age, hybridism, queer theory, multiple sex/gender paradigm""

This paper attempts to disrupt three broad concepts that frequently arise in archaeological discourse: 1) architectural materiality; 2) artifact-oriented interpretation; and 3) ecological marginality. These concepts will be confronted through the analysis of a fifteenth-century fishing station on the west coast of Iceland that has been under excavation since 2011. This analysis draws heavily on contemporary strands of object-oriented philosophy, as it has been deployed in archaeology, to explore the causal emergence of architectural structures. Non-narrative (poeticized) interpretations of materiality, artifact, and marginality are put forth in order to queer what are presented as normative tendencies of narrative interpretation, such as the conquering and accumulation of time. The thesis herein is that this narrative conception of time conceals underlying interactions and relationships that constitute causality and change. Thus, destabilizing the narrative veneer of time is critical to appreciating possible responses to ecological variability by human populations, past and present.

Habitus Journal (http://seer.pucgoias.edu.br/index.php/habitus/issue/view/305/showToc) is honored to present to its readers the interview generously granted in October 2017 by the archaeologist Ph.D. Barbara Voss, an anthropology professor at Stanford University and highly recognized in the field for her studies in Gender. The interviewers were Camila M. Wichers (UFG), Denise Schaan (UFPA), Glaucia Sene (UERJ), Marlene Castro Ossami de Moura (PUC Goiás) and Sibeli A. Viana (PUC
Goiás). This interview was kindly translated into the Portuguese language version by Lorena Araújo de Oliveira Borges (UnB/Capes).

In order to instigate scientific debate and encourage the exchange of experiences among researchers from different contexts, the editors of this volume of Habitus Journal invited some Gender experts in Brazil to answer the questions proposed by Ph.D. Barbara Voss at the end of her interview. Participated in this round of interviews: Tania Andrade Lima (MN/UFRJ), Camila M. Wichers (UFG), Glaucia M. Sene (UERJ), Luís Claudio Symanski (UFMG) and Loredana Ribeiro (UFPel). This interview was kindly translated into the English language version by Lorena Araújo de Oliveira Borges (UnB/Capes).

When members of Edinburgh’s LGBT Health and Wellbeing QTIPOC (Queer Transgender Intersex People of Colour) group were asked if there were any historic places or heritage spaces in the city where they felt that they belonged, one person said, “I don’t know where to place myself”, being pulled between her identity as a queer woman and as a woman of colour. The Scottish Civic Trust and Scotland’s Urban Past are co-designing a pilot project with LGBTQIA+ groups across Scotland to identify and record the country’s queer heritage and explore how individuals think about complex and competing identities. This paper will share the results of a half-day workshop to create a community map of Edinburgh to highlight spaces where members of the QTIPOC group feel that they can embrace different parts of their identities, where they can connect to the past and the present, and offer a way to locate places where participants feel like they can be wholly themselves

Exhibido como el “Diorama de la Yunza” (N° Cód. 4072), en el Amano Museo Textil Precolombino, este diorama forma parte de la colección de piezas rescatadas por Yoshitaro Amano (1953 – 1966) y proviene del sitio arqueológico de Pisquillo Chico, Huaral, Lima. Consiste en un cojín de tela relleno de material vegetal, sobre el cual se representa una escena en tres dimensiones que incluye un objeto central, al que le rodean 11 figuras antropomórficas hechas de caña de totora y textil. Estas figuras fueron divididas en 04 grupos según el tipo de vestimenta  y los patrones de la pintura facial. 
La utilización de las teorías de Género y Queer nos permiten la interpretación de las características que identificamos (Artzi, 2019: 74), con el fin de reconocer y reconstruir facetas de la estructura de género de la sociedad Chancay.

When confronted with archaeological human remains, one of the first things bioarchaeologists do is determine the sex of the skeletons. Skeletal sex assessment involves metric and morphological methods, but are usually placed into one of six sex assessment categories: male/female, possible male/female, ambiguous, or indeterminate. However, these categories are often reduced to just male and female during analysis and in discussion: possible males/females are placed into the male and female categories respectively while ambiguous and indeterminate are briefly mentioned or are not included. This prevents researchers from accessing possible biological sex and gender ambiguity in past cultures. In order to allow for the possibility of biological sex variation and multiple genders, this research: 1) demonstrates the variety of ethnographic, ethnohistoric, historic, and medical data on non-binary sex and gender identities the world over; 2) keeps intact all available osteological sex assessment categories without collapsing them into a binary system; and 3) uses hierarchical cluster and correspondence analysis with all available artefact, grave, and biological variables in a well-researched mortuary sample.

In 1968, a weapon grave with brooches was found at Suontaka Vesitorninmäki, Hattula, Finland. Since then, the grave has been interpreted as evidence of powerful women, even female warriors and leaders in early medieval Finland. Others have denied the possibility of a woman buried with a sword and tried to explain it as a double burial. We present the first modern analysis of the grave, including an examination of its context, a soil sample analysis for microremains, and an aDNA analysis. Based on these analyses, we suggest a new interpretation: the Suontaka grave possibly belonged to an individual with sex-chromosomal aneuploidy XXY. The overall context of the grave indicates that it was a respected person whose gender identity may well have been non-binary.

¿Qué nos decían estos cuerpos no-normados del pasado?, ¿Cuáles habrían sido sus modos de relacionarse con su propio cuerpo y con el cuerpo social?, ¿Cómo se ejercieron las prácticas de poder sexuales y afectivas? y ¿Cómo las ejercemos ahora?,  fueron algunos de los cuestionamientos que acompañaron el proceso de creación del libro "Ir tomando cuerpx".
Lxs artistas y activistas participantes en el libro "Ir tomando cuerpx", realizaron propuestas estético-políticas que cuestionan las miradas tradicionales, patologizantes y estigmatizadas sobre los cuerpos diversos, generando una reinterpretación íntima del registro arqueológico y de los imaginarios sociales acerca de las poblaciones sexodiversas del pasado  y del presente en el Ecuador.
Aquel pensamiento que emerge desde las prácticas del cuerpo se vio reflejado en performances, videos, dibujos y charlas, ahora recogidas en este libro.

Archaeology is really useful for current issues throughout different ways.

At theoretical level we can find different points of researching: anarchist archaeology, and other political perspective of archaeology; feminist archaeology, queer archaeology…

To make visible the forgotten people, we are counting with projects at practical level too. At feminist level with exhibitions and archaeologycal activism.

I want to highlight an special case about how the archaeology serves for rural resistance.

Don’t tell me, I tell you
Me and my people just about due I’ve been there so I know
They keep on saying “Go slow!” [...]
But that’s just the trouble—“do it slow”
Desegregation—“do it slow”
Mass participation—“do it slow” Reunification—“do it slow”
Do things gradually—“do it slow”
But bring more tragedy—“do it slow”

--Nina Simone (1964) – “Mississippi, Goddam”
(cited by La Salle and Hutchings 2016)

The deceleration of archaeology could potentially benefit many aspects of the discipline as it would allow archaeologists to have longer-term and meaningful relationships with local communities, as well as reconstruct more accurate narratives of the past; thus, offering emancipation of colonialist versions of history. The paradoxical dilemma presented here is that archaeology, on an institutional level, is already slow when it comes to addressing foundational and system problems (e.g. number of people of color in faculty positions, high rate of sexual harassment in the field). How can keeping it slow change or ameliorate issues of racism, gender-bias, sexual violence and harassment, family-issues, and mental health within the discipline? In this session, we address this paradox and whether archaeology can indeed keep it slow while not causing any more tragedy.

In this interdisciplinary study, Barbara Voss examines religious, environmental, cultural, and political differences at the Presidio of San Francisco, California, to reveal the development of social identities within the colony. Voss reconciles material culture with historical records, challenging widely held beliefs about ethnicity.

"Compelling new evidence, careful documentation, and an artfully woven narrative make The Archaeology of Ethnogenesis a path-breaking book for sociocultural scholars as well as for general readers interested in the politics of identity, ethnicity, gender, and the colonial and U.S. Western history."--Transforming Anthropology

"Voss’s lucid explanations of method and theory make the book accessible to a broad range of audiences, from upper-level undergraduate and graduate students to professionals and lay audiences.... Its interdisciplinarity, indeed, may help to sell archaeology to audiences who do not typically consider archaeological evidence as an option for identity studies."--Current Anthropology

"The book reminds historians that other disciplines can offer fruitful methodological forays into well-trodden areas of study."--Journal of American History

"Those scholars studying various aspects of the Hispanic worldwide empire would be well advised to peruse Voss’s work."--Historical Archaeology

"[W]ell written, theoretically sophisticated, and unburdened by abstract concepts or hyper-qualified verbiage."--H-Net Reviews

"[E]ngaging. Overall, the text belongs in the library of every student of Spanish and Mexican Alta California…. The Archaeology of Ethnogenesis will become an anthropological standard."--Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

"[A] must-read for all interested not only in colonial California, but for all historical archaeologists and to any archaeologist interested in the examination of identities."--Cambridge Archaeological Journal