Mortuary rituals

Abstract

Archaeologists increasingly recognize sexuality as a key dimension of social organization, diversity, and transformative processes in ancient societies. Archaeological contexts resulting from mortuary rituals— practices performed by the living in reference to the dead—are a significant, though under‐utilized source of information concerning sexual constructs (identities, attitudes, and behaviors) in the past. Mortuary rituals that are directly associated with the body and culminate in burial often produce lasting remains (e.g., the body, the grave, and grave offerings), which become key sources of information concerning social organization and ideological structures. Archaeologists have marshaled mortuary evidence in conjunction with bioarchaeological data to comprehend the diverse sexual constructs that characterized ancient societies. This body of research ranges from efforts to detect intersexed and transgendered individuals to studies of dominant and alternative sexual discourses within ancient complex societies.