#trans archaeologist

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Happy pride from a queer archaeologist (just one of many)!

[magnetothemagnificent]

[id: TikTok video made by Sasha Allen, a trans man. There is a comment onscreen, a reply to Cartero.Cafe's comment, reading "we need the full song". Sasha says, "This goes out to transphobic motherfuckers that are like “yeah but when they dig up your bones in a hundred years they’re gonna know that you’re biologically female!” Shut the fuck up, bitch! Jesus." and then begins to strum on his guitar and sing:

One day when they find my bones in the ground

Whoever they are will say “look what we found!”

A historical find, it’s a relic of time

And they’ll never attest that I don’t know my mind

And,

One day when they find my bones in the earth

They will not equate who I was to what I’m worth

And they’ll find your bones from the same frame of time

And they’ll treat your bones just as they’ve treated mine

We’re the same

We’re the same

We’re the same

We’re the same

One day when they come across my remains

They won’t consider assumptions you’ve made

They will see me, not the things that you say

They will put up my bones in historic displays

And,

I’ll be a symbol of what it all means

To be human, to know the earth infinitely

And your bones are there too, we’re both seen as art

It’s ironic the people can’t tell us apart

We’re the same

We’re the same

We’re the same

We’re the same

And one day if they find my bones it’ll be

Far in the future like forty twenty-three

You were so worried about me,

I don’t think that you noticed it

By then all the archaeologists are transgender socialists

And it’ll be determined on the hill which you die

That in terms of history you were way off on the wrong side

And,

I’ll forgive you, with kindness, grace and elegance

And dance for eternity with your stupid fucking right wing skeleton

Raaah!!!!

Yeah."

The video ends.]

[opashoo]

OCtober 2023: Shou, the Hidden Right Hand

A disillusioned fortune teller, scholar, and mystic, studied in old poems and proverbs. Their absent-minded demeanor belies a dangerous cunning and supernatural foresight with which they have cut down empires. Agent to a mysterious benefactor known only as "The Director".

Shou is nonbinary transfem (they/them)

The non-english text is in Caravan, a conlang I've been working on for about two years now. It reads from right to left:

"Hafii tokshj an, sa ejvo sheta-yjramea no / an im hafigaa eta shehn lumateh mu goro hjkkj."

There are monsters in the mountain, and we would seek shelter [from them] but / we will not find rest in the valleys.

EDIT: So I'm really indecisive and decided I really liked a dark background and no white outline, so I've replaced the original with that version. The original is below.

[ochipi]

I just kind of went through a shocking discovery about a former university class mate.

We both studied at a humanistic uni. I knew she was nostalgic about her local church, often passing by it when she needed to attend class but she specified not being a practicing religious person. I think she was in her 40s at the time.

I opened Facebook last night to find a post, basically trashing a photo of two women alongside a man, all in attire for a service for the Anglian church. It’s a very innocent photograph. The three are standing next to each other in front of the altar, smiling at the camera. That’s all.

She basically started hating on every possible “alternative” version of Christianity. Women should not be involved in any way in religious service. The Anglian church/protestantism/… are shit because they have female “bishops”, arguing that “the church should not adapt to its followers. Its followers should adapt to church. The church is forever and infallible”.

Multiple people commented that people should be free to choose what religious direction they want to take and that the two Anglian woman look happy with their (religious) life and that it is, most of all, none of our business. Everything changes and evolves, no matter how and if we like it or not. These commenters and even I myself got attacked (for replying with that surprised emoji) because “we choose to follow our own dogma and we attack the Roman-catholic church”. I informed her that I am not engaging in any of these discussions and wish to stay out of it (because I’m not religious and not even baptised and for the most part completely clueless about what they were actually talking about).

I got harassed by people agreeing with her. She even went as far as saying “would you take the same stance when I was a Muslim woman? Because Abrahamistic religions (I honestly never even heard of that before) are under attack.”

I’m sorry old friend but this turned into extremist thinking and I do not wish to engage in or follow this path. Not being religious allows me, in my personal situation and opinion, to be my best person, but also interact with people from all walks of life fairly. As an art historian specialising in late medieval - early modern art with stuff like -you know- Iconoclasm, being one of the most important subjects of the time, I would hope that you know why half of Europe decided to protest against Roman Catholicism. I would also hope that you realise that this was almost 400 years ago.

This way of thinking has no place in any religion, anywhere on this world, in this day and age. We live in a time where most people -bluntly- don’t even care.

Perhaps till another time,

Your former atheist/heathen/pagan/LGBTQAI+/humanistic classmate; Johanna 🏳️‍🌈☮️.

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Hot take: River and the Doctor having a father/daughter relationship would have been WAY more compelling than a romance arc. I mean, you'd also have to adjust a lot of shit in Season 6 for it to work but like imagine. Amy insists on the Doctor letting her come with him to search for their daughter. River Song is not Mels but rather straight from the astronaut plot. Picks the name River Song herself because she likes the ring of it and that's how she kicks off her new regeneration- with a new name instead of comments about checking her weight. Let's Kill Hitler where Amy encourages River to save the Doctor because the Doctor has been searching for her as much as she and Rory have, where River decides to save him not because She Is River Song and River Song Wants To Marry/Kill The Doctor Timey Wimey Sexist Bullshit but because she can see that the Doctor can't be evil if her parents love him and he spent so long trying to find her.

Then, instead of entering archaeology to "find a good man," decides to become an archaeologist to make her own path outside of the path that the Silence set for her. Not about the Doctor, but about her own desire to learn, to find something permanent, to discover things in her own way outside of the TARDIS.

Let the bittersweetness of the River&Amy&Rory&theDoctor dynamic come from that. Not because Amy & Rory stopped caring after River had saved the Doctor's life, but because River insisted on getting to figure out who she was outside of the path set for her. And the fact that River will outlive her parents by mere virtue of the whole half-time-lord-DNA thing makes her relationship with the doctor tragic and compelling not because she doesn't think she'll ever live up to him but because they are the only two people that understand each other's grief

[chaotic-archaeologist]

@art-thropologist when you have a design can you put it up on your red bubble? I want it as a sticker for my water bottle.

I’ve been thinking that there should be a club for queer archaeologists, with shiny membership tokens we can flash at each other, and there should be a special, special club for nonbinary archaeologists, because I’ve met a few, and we should be able to keep track of each other.

[noahhawthorneauthor]

One book down, another to go.

With When Witches Dance finished, it's time to get back to work on my historical fiction, The Voice of Wild Places. If you know me, then you know I can't help but commission art during the early phases of projects.

And we all know it's only the beginning, because I'm absolutely in love with Watt and Cornelius. Not to mention archaeology and history are my secret loves, and this is exactly the kind of story I want to read. Historical fiction with Indiana Jones like adventure, queer awakenings, danger, jazz, and steamships.

Write what you love and all that.

Art in order:

Watt by @justmissart

Watt by @ benedettamassaro on IG

Cornelius by @ benedettamassaro on IG

Cornelius by @ c_leadraw on IG

Blurb:

Cornelius Sawyer is a man of many talents, but forgiveness is not one of them.

Watt Johnson is a man of his word, but not once in his life has he spoken up for himself.

Once connected by the bonds of childhood, threads now severed by the demands of life, the pair are brought together for a once in a lifetime opportunity: an all expenses paid expedition to Brazil, searching for a man the world believes to be long dead, Percy Fawcett. And perhaps, even the Lost City that he was looking for.

Under the guise of doing research work for their respective universities, a reluctant Cornelius and an exhilarated Watt accept the offer and delve into the unknown, trusting no one but themselves. Looking at a map, the route and its dangers seem to be known obstacles which can be easily conquered, a fact that Watt leans on heavily.

But Cornelius is intimately aware that the river has teeth, that the land renders a siren song to those who are desperate to become lost in its mountains and basins. To survive the journey they’ll have to face the enemies within, and trust the other to have their best interests in mind.

After all, the Voice of Wild Places is calling, beckoning the adrift homeward.

[bbqangelwings]

i think its funny whenever transphobes say "oh well when archaeologists dig up your bones in a thousand years they know you weren't *actually* a woman" or whatever because like ummm actually when archaeologists dig up my skeleton he will be wearing a funny outfit and cook spaghetti and set elaborate traps to catch humans

[zippers]

shout out to high school "reverse bicurious" "cis woman" me who just thought trans people in antiquity were fascinating and did my Latin IA on trans/gnc romans so now when I'm making lesson plans for my actual job teaching about gay and trans romans i literally just have a document from 2016 called "Gender links" that cites whole books with relevant quotes and summaries and even better, my own translations of primary sources.

thank you pre-burnout me!!!! for doing the leg work as an "ally"!!!!

[marklikely]

i dont care if they dig up my bones in 500 years and say im a ~female skeleton~ btw bc thats more representation for women #feminism

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Got this sticker for my birthday from the other archaeologist in my cohort. That's it, folks. That's a wrap. This is the single greatest present I've ever received.

[deodorant-user]

Idea

We make a service for transgender people that you can carve your gender identity into your pelvis after you die, so in the future when archaeologists find your remains they can tell what your gender identity was. Is this genius or am I dumb.

[calico-in-the-forest]

(Currently voluntary) qualified archaeologist here, I can confirm:

Expert analysis is conducted on human remains to understand in more depth the life of that person

Biological sex estimation is very complex and based on probabilities, not 100% certainty

Gender is not sex nor inferred by only bones

reconstruction of past gender relationships is done through patterns in treatment of the dead by past survivors (e.g. burial trends)

ARCHAEOLOGY IS REALLY COMPLEX, IT ISN'T AS SIMPLE AS MAKING ASSUMPTIONS!!

To all the trans people worried about how you’ll be treated once you’re just bones:

Anthropology has known about gender diversity for decades, centuries even. And the newer archaeologists are taught that the most we can test for with hard sciences is your sex. Not your gender. We can figure out if you’re intersex, but also as science will evolve, we’ll also know if you took hormones (bone density and characteristics), implants don’t degrade, your burial clothes will probably be synthetic, we’ll notice your hair length, what you’re buried with, maybe even the markers you left behind.

And there will be a good chance someone trans (even better just queer in general) will look at your file. Your data and artifacts, and see themself in you. Catch that you are their elder, and help aid the identification of your gender.

There’s a good chance you’ll be seen, and if not then that’s okay, because the people handling you will know better than to assume wrong.

[stressedbeetle]

I would just like every trans or gender non-conforming person who might feel discouraged by the icky conservative argument: "wHeN arCHaOoloGisTs FInd yOur sKEletOn thEy're noT gONna carE aBoUt yOur gENder" to know that yes actually we will. There's literally an entire chapter about exploring gender through archaeology in one of the books on my course literature:)

[ochipi]

In case anyone wants/needs to know:

Archaeology is one of the most LGBTQA+ friendly work fields.

No need to feel worried about working as an archaeologist because you’re a woman, look a little different, did not settle for a conventional 1950’s family ideal, are not “manly” enough, or just neither one of anything.

We are like this and so have humans since the beginning of time, we have archaeological proof. We don’t ask or need explanations. You are you. And you are welcome.

[mesapies]

Canon lgbtq+ avatar characters

Korra and asami - bisexual

Kya - lesbian

Kyoshi - bisexual

rangi - lesbian

Zeisan (sozins sister) and her lover Rioshon - sapphic (I think zeisan is a lesbian but I'm not 100% sure)

Mingxia and her gf Melin - sapphic

Zenko (left) and his named husband - gay

Katara saved zenko and their daughter chio from a fire nation attack

Akuudan and tayagum - gay

Akuudan and his husband tayagum were water tribe warriors that helped avatar yangchen

Hua and Rose - sapphic

from the avatar legends the roleplaying game - core book. Rose was a wealthy girl who purse was attempted to be stolen by Hua a firebending criminal but they later fell in love

Dalja Rose - trans(I think)

from the avatar legends the roleplaying game - core book. Attended fire academy fir girls when they realized they didn't truly feel like a girl.

Jiang - gay

From adventure booklet: the burning fuse. He's a detective from republic city who gained airbending through the harmonic convergence

Junyi - gay

from the avatar legends the roleplaying game - core book. He was a earth nation Outlaw during the time of roku. Hes was swordsmith who fell in love with one of his clients. The two men were set to run away together, but his lover's wife, the mayor of the town, discovered their affair. She had her husband killed and pinned the crime on Junyi. (Messy as hell)

Makittuq - trans woman

from the avatar legends the roleplaying game - core book. She's northern water tribe girl from the tims of roku who knew she assigned the wrong gender since birth. When her family didn't accept her she connected with sports who did

Massak and nyn chei - sapphic ex lovers

from the avatar legends the roleplaying game - core book. During the time of roku, Massak was a swt boatwright and inventor and he ex lover nyn chei was a fire nation inventor and engineer who'd inventions helped create the new fire navy coal fuled fleet.

Mayu - trans man

from the avatar legends the roleplaying game - republic city. From republic city him and his friends Yuka and Saya ran away together after mayu came out to his traditional fire nation family who didn't accept him.(im think Yuka is non binary as well)

Mosi and his husband sayako - gay

From adventure booklet: pirate of crimson sails. From a fire nation colony as a earth nation guy. Mosi as an adult became a pirate working to go against azulon. He later fell in love with a firebender, sayako. They married and had a daughter, lily

Sunlin - non binary

from the avatar legends the roleplaying game - quicksart. They were a joyful and idealistic orphan from Harbor City, and a former member of the Fire Finches during the late stages of the Hundred Year War

Wen - non binary

From avatar generations. Wen was an Earth Kingdom archaeologist broadly interested in relics. They explored the four nations in pursuit of their studies.

Netxflix Oma and shu - sapphics

Aiwei (left) - said to be gay but I couldn't find anything confirming

Jargala (right) - her artist said that she's pansexual but there's nothing confirming it

Unnamed gay air nomads and fire nation sapphics(getting arrested) from when kya was explaining to Korrasami the different views on gay ppl in the different nations