[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK9mIYgKWP4?wmode=transparent]
Last week a male skeleton found in a Prague suburb in the Czech Republic was labeled as "gay" due to the manner in which it was buried 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists have seen patterns in the way in which various genders have been buried and in this case, the male skeleton was placed on his left side and surrounded by domestic jugs, which was the typical methodology of burying women during the Copper Age. Some female warriors have also been buried in the traditional manner of their male counterparts. The archaeologist who made this discovery have indicated a belief that this male caveman was either homosexual or transgender. "From history and ethnology, we know that people from this period took funeral rites very seriously so it is highly unlikely that this positioning was a mistake," lead researcher Kamila Remisova Vesinova said. "Far more likely is that he was a man with a different sexual orientation, homosexual or transvestite. What we see here does not add up to traditional Corded Ware cultural norms."
This assertion however has caused a backlash in the scientific community. While the discovery is interesting, it is impossible to determine the sexual orientation of a skeleton or to conflate "Third Gender," an additional category of gender associated with various cultural groups throughout the world, with homosexuality. While his sexual orientation cannot be positively identified, the fact that this skeleton was buried with his community does indicate a level of cultural acceptance in his lifetime. To read more about the initial discovery:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/gay-caveman-found-prague_n_846246.html and the to read more about the push back: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/04/10/czech.republic.unusual.burial/