7. Boy Wives of the Aranda The Pre-History of ... - BobHay.net
7. Boy Wives of the Aranda The Pre-History of ... - BobHay.net
7. Boy Wives of the Aranda The Pre-History of ... - BobHay.net
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who were held in such high regard (for example, priestesses or some kind<br />
<strong>of</strong> ruler) who were not only fed <strong>the</strong> best <strong>of</strong> everything but perhaps carried<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than walking under <strong>the</strong>ir own steam. As was originally suggested,<br />
maybe she was a goddess? Who knows? But one little piece <strong>of</strong><br />
information has come to light recently: archeologists now believe that<br />
<strong>the</strong> bobbly protrusions on her head are not hair but a head-dress.<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r “Venus” figurine, <strong>the</strong> so-called "La Dame à la capuche" or<br />
"Dame de Brassempouy" was discovered in Chalosse in 1894. This is an<br />
ivory head, 3.2 cm (1¼ inches) high and has been dated as "Perigordian".<br />
La Dame is <strong>the</strong> first representation <strong>of</strong> a human face in <strong>the</strong> whole <strong>of</strong><br />
prehistory. <strong>The</strong>se days she lives in <strong>the</strong> National Museum <strong>of</strong> Antiquities in<br />
St Germain en Laye. La Dame, like <strong>the</strong> Venus de Willendorf, also has a<br />
headdress, <strong>the</strong> “capuche”. It has been argued that <strong>the</strong>se headdresses were<br />
woven and <strong>the</strong>refore not only demonstrate that weaving was one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
skills <strong>the</strong>se ancient people possessed, it also suggests some kind <strong>of</strong> social<br />
organization, perhaps tribal. <strong>The</strong>se little figures also beg <strong>the</strong> question:<br />
“Was fat beautiful in <strong>the</strong> eyes <strong>of</strong> our remote ancestors?” If so, <strong>the</strong>n<br />
interestingly, all <strong>the</strong> representations we have <strong>of</strong> men show <strong>the</strong>m to be<br />
thin.<br />
As for pre-historic homosexuality, <strong>the</strong> only evidence we have from that<br />
pre-Ice-Age time comes from a small valley in Moravia in <strong>the</strong> modern<br />
Czech Republic, now called Dolní Vestonice, near Brno. In that valley a<br />
community <strong>of</strong> perhaps no more than 100 Cro-Magnon people managed<br />
to live what seems to have been a relatively sophisticated life-style for<br />
several thousand years.<br />
In 1986, archeologists discovered three skeletons buried toge<strong>the</strong>r in a<br />
common grave some 28,000 years ago. <strong>The</strong> skeletons were <strong>of</strong> three<br />
people, all young — about 18-20 years old when <strong>the</strong>y died — <strong>the</strong> outer<br />
ones both healthy, robust young men while <strong>the</strong> one in <strong>the</strong> middle had not<br />
been so lucky in his lifetime. Although <strong>the</strong> sex <strong>of</strong> this skeleton was hard<br />
to determine — initially, assumed to be female although some<br />
pathologists considered it to be “inter-sex” — <strong>the</strong> consensus now seems<br />
to be that he was indeed male, but badly deformed by some congenital<br />
disability causing his thigh bone to fuse to his hip and thus making it<br />
difficult for him to walk. He would have been in serious pain in his<br />
lifetime….<br />
All three bodies had been buried after rigor mortis had relaxed, leaving<br />
<strong>the</strong>m pliable enough to be carefully arranged in <strong>the</strong> grave. <strong>The</strong> disabled<br />
young man in <strong>the</strong> center was buried first, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> one on <strong>the</strong> right was<br />
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