Pompeii assumed mother now found to be a man

[GretaGip]

Gosh, who knew that sex could be determined by scientific tests.

Ugh, the lack of noun/verb agreement there is bugging me. 'Stories was'? I shall ignore 'a mother with their young' as I suspect Style Guide Overkill there.

We can accurately recognise the sex of these individuals, but cannot work out how to describe it?

...a mother who died with their young in their hands.

🤦‍♀️

Ha yes...reads like the work of some poor teenage intern. Sweet image of the man holding a child he is not related to though. Poignant.

He might have believed it was his biological child. Paternity isn’t always as expected. 🤷‍♀️

It's more evidence of gender stereotypes affecting history. The assumption only a woman or mother would hold a child like that as they died.

Like how a fair few prehistoric graves assumed to be men due to armour or swords in the grave are actually woman when they go back with modern science to check.

I remember reading how male archaeologists had thought knifes places in the rafters of prehistoric huts meant the knifes had some religious or cultural significance attached to them until a woman had a look and said no it's probably to keep them out of the reach of children.

Our modern perceptions often colour and change the interpretation of historical finds

Or he might have been a slave instructed to carry the child. Over 30% if the population of Pompeii were slaves.

I don't understand why an embracing couple was assumed to be mother/daughter, sisters. Surely a couple, male and female, is more likely?

I don't know why this is current news. I read about this a few years ago.

Archaeologists (mostly male) are always attributing things to religious ritual rather than something more common or garden, like keeping knives out of the reach of children! Male obsession?

Probably picked up by the trans lobby as evidence we cannot tell the sex of dead people.

Well it’s like the thing about a prehistoric bone with 28 notches on it. They asked why prehistoric man needed to count to 28 until it was pointed out that prehistoric woman most likely had a reason.