[3W4D] Snapshots of a patriarchy: The myth of the stone age, by Liv Strömquist

Here's a translation of a short comic strip by Liv Strömquist, Sweden's favourite feminist comic artist and social commentator. My rough translation, as per usual. This, by the way, is semi-relevant to the post I'm hopefully putting up tomorrow on assigning sex to human remains. It's at least some kind of complementary reading material!

This is from Liv Strömquist's first collection, 100% fett (100% Fat).

( Courtesy cut for images )

Previously translated strips:

- Creativity - a comic about making things by Liv Strömquist

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On a more personal note, I'm still suffering quite a bit from this whole slipped disc business. I actually got subscribed a good three weeks more of the ridiculously strong tablets (the ones I needed to get certified by the pharmacy before I could take them into another country without risking getting arrested) by a very sympathetic doctor, to give you some idea; Swedish doctors do not like giving out medicine unless they're convinced that it's really, really necessary. Really necessary.

I keep optimistically saying that it's better than it was, but to be honest, a part of me does think that it's just the fact that I have better medication. The weekend between running out of the strong stuff and getting a new prescription was rough.

But I'm getting scanned on Monday to see how it's looking in there.


Also, I think our cat is trying to herd us... Humans: they should all be in the same room. All the time.

[3W4D] FONSFAQ: How do archaeologists determine the sex of a skeleton?

Prompt: I've often wondered how archaeologists determine the sex of a skeleton - I know there are differences in the pelvis, but what else is taken to be a clue? I'm also curious about how accurate it is, and whether anyone's done any studies on that.

I'm afraid I'm focusing more on the general methods used than specific studies - I'm not the only one tackling this prompt so hopefully you'll get a different range of information from the other answer! Basically all my books are in the wrong country & I lack journal subscriptions, so I can't pull up as many specific figures and examples as I'd like for accuracy. But here is the as lay as possible guide to the kinds of techniques that get used in determining the sex of human remains in archaeology.

As a note before we start, I'm also one of those people who dislikes overemphasising sexual difference and I do see this whole thing as a sliding scale rather than a choice between two boxes. I do not automatically connect sex with gender either. That's the perspective I work from, though it's by no means shared by all archaeologists!

So.


There are three things that are often used to determine the sex of skeletons, although they're of variable use and appropriateness. All of these have problems, although number two is the really what were you thinking option. More on this later! The methods are:

1. Looking at the bones
2. Looking at the grave goods
3. DNA testing


1. Looking at the bones

( Read more... )

2. Looking at the grave goods

( Read more... )

3. DNA testing

( Read more... )

Ta-da! I do hope that was at least somewhat helpful.