A bioarchaeological approach to men, masculinities, and the body in Medieval Alba Iulia, Romania

Abstract

Over the past several decades, bioarchaeology has seen an increase in the interest in theoretical approaches to the archaeological body, based upon which approaches to gendered identities through the analysis of skeletal populations are explored. This thesis attempted to contribute to this body of literature by filling a gap identified in gender bioarchaeology: the exploration and theorisation of men as gender subjects in past societies through skeletal analysis.
Using a mortuary skeletal sample this thesis aimed to study men's gender identities in the medieval period, specifically in the 12th to 13th centuries, in the city of present-day Alba Iulia, Romania. More specific goals included analysing gendered differences in men's risk-taking and subjecting bodies to risk in connection to their health outcomes, resulting from behaviours related to the deployment of idealised forms of masculinities. Through the bioarchaeological analysis of trauma and the examination of activity-related joint modification patterns, implications for gendered behaviour were studied.
The study developed a theoretical framework based on gender performativity (Butler, 1993), which considers gender not biologically inherent, but an agential process created through corporeal action, and the body as material culture (Sofaer, 2006a), that views the archaeological body as a sedimented embodiment of past lifeways and lived experiences. The amalgamation of these approaches permitted the conceptualisation of the body as the intersection of material and discourse, resulting in material-discursive bodies.
While employing a novel explanatory framework, the study used well established, standardised, data collection methods to maintain methodological rigour. Information collected from skeletal remains included indicators which may implicate men's behaviours in health outcomes and well-being. These included data on traumatic injuries that may
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indicate accidental and violence related incidents, as well as joint modification features that may indicate patterns of activity and attitudes toward using the body to perform work.
Overall, the majority of skeletal injuries from blunt force trauma, for both males and females, were considered to have resulted from accidental injuries from everyday activities or occupational hazards. The results suggested increased risk-taking behaviours in some subgroups of males. For example, males with weapon related injuries and individuals with multiple and repeat injuries, suggest that subgroups of men participated in more dangerous activities than other males or females. Violence related trauma was observed exclusively in males indicating that engagement in armed conflict was the domain of men. Injury recidivism was also exclusively observed in males and provides clues to social influences on skeletal injury. Differences in activity related patterns were not discernible through the osteological data, suggesting that either there was no difference in the activities performed between men and women, or more likely that differential activities resulted in an overall similar skeletal response with regards to the risk of developing joint modification markers.
Despite challenges, including a lack of historical context and archaeological information, the theoretical framework was useful in gaining a more nuanced understanding of men's gendered engagement in risk-taking and being at-risk. It also allowed interpretations of the interplay between biological factors and larger social and cultural influences that perpetuated and legitimised behaviours which in turn detrimentally affected men's health outcomes.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Joanna Sofaer: orcid.org/0000-0001-6328-8636

ORCID for Alison Gascoigne: orcid.org/0000-0003-2742-9483

ORCID for Sonia Zakrzewski: orcid.org/0000-0003-1796-065X

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