Sexo y género en el Mesolítico: adultos y nin˜ os del enterramiento de Strøby Egede, Køge Bugt, Dinamarca

Translated title of the contribution: Sex and Gender in the Mesolithic: Adults and Children from the Strøby Egede Burial, Køge Bugt, Denmark

Kurt J. Gron, Christopher Meiklejohn, Kristoffer B. Pedersen, Nicolas A. Stewart, Verner Alexandersen, Lasse Sørensen, Janet Montgomery

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In the summer of 1986 a mass grave was discovered along the bank of the river Tryggevælde Å where it empties into Køge Bugt, the bay south of modern Copenhagen, Denmark. The human remains, dating to the late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture, consisted of eight individuals of multiple ages, ranging c. 35–45 years old to newborn children. Four were arranged on one side of the grave, with four on the other, placed head to foot. How they were related and what befell them is a mystery. Herein, we present a bioarchaeological assessment of these individuals for the first time and apply an acid etch-based analysis of dimorphic sex chromosome-linked tooth enamel peptides to confirm their biological sex. Our results allow a direct connection between engendered grave treatment and biological sex in non-adult individuals as young as c. 4 years of age. We conclude with a discussion of the possible circumstances of their deaths and their possible relationships to one another.
Translated title of the contributionSex and Gender in the Mesolithic: Adults and Children from the Strøby Egede Burial, Køge Bugt, Denmark
Original languageSpanish
Pages (from-to)1-23
Number of pages23
JournalProceedings of The Prehistoric Society
Volume88
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding for this research was provided by the Leverhulme Trust (Grant RPG RPG-2019-253). Work on the Strøby Egede material by Christopher Meiklejohn occurred during work with the Vedbæk Project, directed by Erik Brinch Petersen, with funding from 1987 to 1999 supported by a series of research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC). Support for Jeffrey Wyman fell within these grants to CM. CM would like to thank Erik Brinch Petersen and Niels Lynnerup for assistance in checking details during the writing of this paper. Lastly, thanks are owed to Kristen Hopper for help with the map.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Prehistoric Society.

Keywords

  • Mesolithic
  • Human remains
  • Sex and gender
  • Denmark
  • Tooth enamel
  • Peptides
  • Bioarchaeology
  • peptides
  • sex and gender
  • tooth enamel
  • human remains
  • bioarchaeology

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