Saturday 6 February 2016

Gender Equality at Stonehenge

A new study of prehistoric bones discovered at Stonehenge has found around half belonged to women.
In 2008 archaeologists first explored the site in Wiltshire examining the cremated remains of some 200 adults.
Researchers said their findings showed a "surprising degree of gender equality" despite artists portraying prehistoric man as in charge of the site "with barely a woman in sight".
The study showed the findings are important because burial at Stonehenge was likely to have been reserved for selected people of higher status.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-35461309)




A new study of mediaeval tombs at Farleigh Hungerford Castle has found around half belonged to women.
In 2008 archaeologists first explored the site in Wiltshire examining the tombs of some half a dozen adults.
Researchers said their findings showed a "surprising degree of gender equality" despite artists portraying mediaeval man as in charge of the site "with barely a woman in sight".
The study showed the findings are important because burial at Farleigh Hungerfod Castle was likely to have been reserved for selected people of higher status.
(Not a real news story but a gentle reminder that equality in death doesn't necessarily equal equality in life).

4 comments:

  1. This speculation is about as meaningful as the earlier creation of an imaginary "Stonehenge" near the Pressilli Hills in Wales that was moved to Stonehenge. Apparently, if you have a PhD, you get a license to dispense absolute BS ( and I don't mean the degree) as scientifically verified fact with impunity from common sense or criticism. Such is postmodern science. God help us all.

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  2. Hi Dan. It isn't speculation though (as it apparently comes from DNA evidence showing a 60:40 ratio of women to men).

    I rather like it that this evidence, of sorts, has come to light. Though speculative, some of the semi-technical logic resulting from the geocentric theory points towards women as having taken an equal or lead role for that sequence of events: Hence why women were portrayed in preference to men in the technical illustrations and also the reason why the novel portrayed women as having the lead role at Stonehenge.

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  3. Jon
    The analysis shows cremated women were buried at Stonehenge but without context since all the remains were jumbled in Aubrey Hole 7. The circumstances of burial can tell us a lot about gender but, for all we know, the women buried at SH could have been sacrificial victims killed at the death of their chief and accompanying him into the next world. Spinning out over-interpreted BS, even logical BS, has become the norm for SH archeology.

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  4. Hi Dan. I may be wrong, but I thought that the remains were only partial: That is that they were generally not full skeletal remains.

    If that memory is correct, then sacrifice seems perhaps unlikely due to the effort involved in separating partial remains and burying those separately. However, I understand where you're coming from: There are plenty of different potential explanations.

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