1,000-Year-Old Remains May Be Of A Highly Respected Nonbinary Warrior, Study Finds

Analysis of ancient DNA found in Finland has unveiled a surprise a century later – the remains of an early medieval warrior thought to be female may have been nonbinary. Xcaret Nuñez reports for NPR.

The data indicate that the person had a feminine presentation, likely XXY chromosomes, and a penis. The way they were buried led to the conclusion that the remains were of "a respected person whose gender identity may well have been non-binary."

To use this article with students, pre-teach the difference between gender and sex because this is not well-defined in the article.

Sex Estimation Based On Multiple Pelvic Indicators More Accurate, Based On 49 19th c. Canadian adults — Bass Lab & Field Manual

The most accurate single indicator was sacrum shape (94.1%). On the other hand, three combinations of pelvic criteria produced higher levels of accuracy than the trait list as a whole: obturator foramen shape and presence of the ventral arc (98%); obturator foramen shape and presence of the ventral arc (98%); obturator foramen shape and true pelvis shape (98%); pubic shape and acetabulum shape and size (95%).

The William Bass Field Manual mentions other studies of European populations, but reproduces in full several tables by Rogers and Saunders based on 49 “adult skeletons from a 19th-century cemetery located on the grounds of the St Thomas Anglican Church in Belleville, Canada.”

Embedded below are tables for:

• Table 3-24. Accuracy Levels for Each Individual Pelvic Trait (after Rogers & Saunders (1994:1051, Table 5) (Bass 2005: 216)

• Table 3-25. Probability of Estimating Sex Correctly for Combinations of Two Traits (after Rogers & Saunders (1994:1051, Table 3) (Bass 2005: 216)

Curious about what the broad labels for male and female anatomical regions are for those anthropologists using the Bass Manual?

Source

Bass, William. 2005. Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual, 5th ed. Special Publication No. 2 of the Missouri Archaeological Society. Columbia, MO. http://coas.missouri.edu/mas