What This Extraordinary Find Says About Gender in an Ancient Culture

Archaeologists have discovered a funerary stone that could completely change how we understand gender roles in ancient Iberian society. The stela—an upright stone slab often serving as a gravestone—was found at the 3,000-year-old funerary complex in Las Capellanías, in Cañaveral de León, Spain. 

The find, which was made in September and was presented by the Cañaveral de León city council on October 6, is remarkable because it depicts a figure that has both female and male markers, showing that perhaps our standardized and binary iconographies could have been more fluid than we thought in ancient Iberian culture.

The stela in question, which archaeologists believe was created to commemorate important people in Iberian society, depicts a human figure with a headdress, necklace, and two swords. The figure also has a detailed face, hands, feet, as well as male genitalia. But while the headdress is usually interpreted as female, the sword is a feature that is normally interpreted as male. 

                                            

From: Art&Object

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