Kvinnor, män och allt däremellan : - En studie om osteologiska och arkeologiska könsbedömningar på fragmenterade skelett

Sammanfattning: The methods of sex determination through skeletons or through objects in graves has been used on and off since the nineteenth century. Most of the osteological methods are however developed on intact bones, and the archaeological method assume that jewelry is female associated and weapons are male associated. A tendency to choose the archaeological sex determination above the osteological sex determination can be spotted as well. The study examines how the osteological sex determination methods could be used on fragmented skeletal remains, and question the archaeological sex determination method with a gender perspective. This will be achieved by analyzing thirteen graves from a burial ground in Lekarehed, Lärbro parish (socken), Gotland. The skeletal remains were excavated in 1878 and 1951 and is dated to late Bronze age–early Iron age and the Viking age. The aim with this study is to get a deeper understanding of how the methods can be used, and to shed light on the stereotypical view on femininity and masculinity that exists. The aim is also to emphasize that the most important and most interesting information comes from the discussion of the problems that exist in these methods, and that the most important thing is not to decide what is feminine or masculine, or to choose one method in front of the other. The analysis resulted in one certain, four uncertain and eight graves without sex determination regarding the osteological method, and two certain, one uncertain and ten graves without sex determination regarding the archaeological method. In the discussion, the problems with putting the woman and the man as pairs of opposition is brought up, because it excludes the graves that cannot be put in one of these two categories. The objects in the graves can represent something other than sex as well, for instance age or status. The cooperation between the osteologist and the archaeologist is important for the knowledge to evolve and to carry on. By looking at the material in a new way, new insights will perhaps come forth.