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How did a Neolithic burial in Prague become a viral "gay caveman?"
Episode Transcript
Episode Transcript
Follow this link for an annotated episode transcript.
Teaching Guide
Teaching Guide
This episode brings up several topics that can be used for classroom discussion. See the sections below for topics/questions/and links to use along with the podcast episode in your classes.
Media coverage of archaeology
Media coverage of archaeology
Many archaeologists likely have stories of their work being misquoted or misunderstood in the media. Follow the links in the media coverage section below to see how this story evolved.
In what ways did this research become transformed from the initial interview to the more sensational headlines?
How did archaeologists react to this story? Do you think these follow-up pieces were effective?
What can we learn about reporting the results of archaeological research?
Several archaeologists have written about press coverage of archaeology. A few suggested readings:
Adrian Maldonado's blog post on "Reporting Archaeology in the Post-Truth Era." Here he mentions the "long tail" of archaeology news stories, which ties into Kamila's discussion of the poor media coverage of the discovery the burial was female.
Adrian Maldonado also wrote about archaeology news online for Advances in Archaeological Practice.
A piece in Anthropology News by Bob Muckle on "Equipping Archaeology for the Post-Truth, Fake News Era" (PDF download)
A piece by Christie Fender on "Addressing the Alien in the Room: Why Public Perception is Imperative to the Field of Archaeology"
Kristina Killgrove wrote about this story as part of an edited volume, Bioarchaeologists Speak Out. Bioarchaeology and Social Theory. (PDF download).
Gender, Sex, and Sexuality
Gender, Sex, and Sexuality
This episode briefly discusses the difference between gender and sex and how the media conflated these with sexuality. This topic is, of course, too big to summarize here. However, there have been several articles/book chapters that have used the "gay caveman" example to consider these topics in more depth. These could be assigned along with the podcast episode.
This article by Everhart talks about the "gay caveman" in the context of trying to find evidence for transgender people in the past.
This book chapter by Pamela Geller, also from the Bioarchaeologists Speak Out volume, discusses the "fallacy of the transgender skeleton."
This Master's thesis by Louise Olerud looks specifically at the gender ideology of the Corded Ware culture. (PDF download)
Here is an English-Language summary of Kamila Remišová Věšínová's book on gender and archaeology. (PDF download)
How do you determine the sex of a skeleton?
How do you determine the sex of a skeleton?
In our episode, Sian Halcrow walks through some different parts of the skeleton that bioarchaeologists look at to determine sex. She suggests two links below to go into more detail on this topic.
Media Coverage
Media Coverage
Links to the initial media coverage about the burial in Prague, including some pieces critical of the initial media coverage.
This appears to be the initial coverage of the excavations in Prague from Iran's Press TV. This link is from the Wayback Machine as the original page no longer exists.
From The Telegraph: First homosexual caveman found
From the Daily Mail: The oldest gay in the village: 5,000-year-old is 'outed' by the way he was buried
From the Week: Have scientists unearthed the first 'gay caveman'?
From the NY Daily News: Archaeologists discover first-ever ‘gay caveman’ in Czech Republic; man buried with pots, not tools
From HuffPost: 'Gay Caveman' Found By Archaeologists Near Prague
From The Atlantic: An Ambiguously Gay Caveman Is Your New Media Darling
From LiveScience: 'Gay Caveman' Story Overblown, Archaeologists Say
From NPR: Researchers Dig Up 'Homosexual Or Transsexual' Caveman Near Prague
From Salon: The “gay caveman” media mystery
From The Advocate: "Gay" Caveman Likely a Media Myth
From Wired and Scientific American: The Allure of the Gay Caveman
From Jezebel: Scientists Ruin "Gay Caveman"'s Coming Out Party
From CNN: Scientists speak out to discredit 'gay caveman' media reports
From Radio Prague International: Stone Age grave none the less queer for lack of ‘Gay Caveman’
This article/audio story is well worth listening to; it gives more background on the site/excavation and more nuanced views from Kamila about the burial.
Responses from Archaeologists
Responses from Archaeologists
Blog posts and responses from archaeologists/anthropologists about the "gay caveman"
From Kristina Killgrove
From Rosemary Joyce
Music in this Episode
Music in this Episode
Our intro music is Bopha Vientiane by Sinn Sisamouth
We also used music from Blue Dot Sessions including
Did you use this episode in your class?
Did you use this episode in your class?
Please get in touch with me to share more about how you used this episode and the episode resources in your class. I'd love to hear any feedback/suggestions/ideas for other ways to use this podcast in the classroom.
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