Gay Caveman

The first time I came across this gay caveman was in Erin's Anth 100 class in the summer.  This first article on the Telegraph website gives a detailed account of the gay caveman.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8433527/First-homosexual-caveman-found.html

However, my thoughts on the gay caveman conincide more with the article on the National Post's website.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/04/17/gay-caveman-probably-not-gay-or-a-caveman/

Based on these two and other articles I have come to two varying conclusions: 1) they sexed the skeleton wrong; or, 2) the skeleton belonged to a gay male.

To go with conclusion 1, I think there is a possiblity that they sexed the skeleton wrong because female skeletons can look like male skeletons.

More importantly, I think this very well could be a gay "caveman" (even though the Corded Ware people were not cavemen).  However, just because he was buried like a female does not mean that this individual would have identified himself as feminine or gay.  If this individual was gay, hopefully this leads to more discoveries and scientific research into sexuality being a biological trait so that the LGBT community today has a better chance at being accepted and obtaining equal rights.

Monument Analysis

The first question we looked at was: does the position of the mausoleum within the Ross Bay Cemetery landscape provide information regarding the individual?  The position of the mausoleums in Ross Bay provides information on a person’s religion as well as a person’s wealth.  The cemetery is divided into sections based on Christian orientation but there are also sections where poor people were buried (called Potter’s Field).  Mausoleums were originally built to bury the wealthy families outside of the church but still maintain that religious connection (Pearson, 2002).  In the Ross Bay Cemetery, the clearly Catholic Rosso family mausoleum is the only family mausoleum in the Catholic section (clearly evident because it has a crucifix above the door).  Another example is that the Helmcken and Mackenzie mausoleums are buried in the Anglican section (Old Cemetery Society of British Columbia).

            The second question we looked at was: was mausoleum use limited to or favoured by, a certain social class or social group in the Ross Bay Cemetery?  The mausoleums in Ross Bay Cemetery were evident of wealthy social classes.  Helmcken’s mausoleum was elaborate and inspired by Egyptian style.  Since most of the mausoleums in Ross Bay were around the late nineteenth century, they fit perfectly into the idea that elaborate burial monuments/family mausoleums glorified individual achievement and success (Lee Decker, 2009).  These large, elaborate family mausoleums became the norm during the late nineteenth century and clearly exemplified high status (Lee Decker, 2009).  The most elaborate mausoleum that clearly displays wealth and high status in the Ross Bay Cemetery is the Rithet family mausoleum.  The Rithets owned sugar plantations and Victoria’s deep sea docks.  Their high status and wealth is represented after death in their large, beautiful mausoleum.

Sources

Lee Decker, Charles H., 2009. Preparing for an afterlife on earth: the transformation of mortuary behaviour in nineteenth-century North America, International Handbook of Historical Archaeology Part 1, [online] Available at:< http://www.springerlink.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/content/l55833l682p65863/fulltext.pdf > [Accessed 07 February 2012].

Old Cemetery Society of British Columbia. Ross Bay Cemetery [pdf] Available at: <http://www.oldcem.bc.ca/brochurerbc.pdf> [Accessed 07 February 2012].

Pearson, Lynn F., 2002. Mausoleums. Buckinghamshire: Shire Publications.

Landscapes

My group and I decided to do Ross Bay Cemetery for our Monument Analysis project.  Not being a native of Victoria I suggested it because it was the only cemetery that I THOUGHT I knew where it was.  Once I found it though I was the happiest person ever (as my group can attest to me jumping up and down in excitement).  I was so stoked upon walking into the cemetery because it was a massive site full of elaborate, historical monuments.  I'm a history major, these things make me happy (also Halloween is my favourite "holiday" so the creepy graves that were cracked open made me even happier).  I got to see the majority of the entire cemetery but one day I'm gunna go back and scour every inch of it looking for more historical figures and tales.



If I could do this assignment anywhere in the world it'd probably be at the Merry Cemetery in Romania.  I stumbled upon this when I Googled "cool cemeteries".  This cemetery tries to bring cheer to the gruesome tombs by adding bright colours.  Each wooden cross "tombstone" is painted with a picture of how the person died (whether they were beheaded or hit by a car), which sometimes leads to exposing the deceased's flaws.  I would also go to any cemetery anywhere in Europe or the original 13 colonies of the United States as that is what I'm focusing on in the history part of my double major.