A new study has emerged that suggests that a 1000 year old buried warrior was non-binary.
The grave of the unknown warrior was found in the 1960s – however, new information suggests that the unnamed warrior may have been non-binary.
The body, found in Finland, has made scientists question what they thought they knew about humans as ancient people of the Iron Age.
They were discovered in Suontaka Vesitorninmäki, Hattula, Finland, back in 1968.
Along with the body, was a sword with a bronze handle along with other objects that suggest the warrior was a woman or someone ‘whose gender identity may well have been non-binary’.
A press release from University of Turku shared: “The jewellery inside the grave indicates that the buried individual was dressed in typical female clothing of the period.
“On the other hand, the person was buried with a sword – possibly two, according to some interpretations – which is often associated with masculinity.”
Fascinating. An XXY person, their status, magic and burial…https://t.co/c3uUlhH4G0
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) August 11, 2021
Since 68 when the grave was found, it has been ‘considered to be either a double burial of both a woman and a man, or alternatively, a weapon grave of a female, and therefore a proof of strong female leaders or even female warriors in the Late Iron Age Finland’.
A newer study however, found that there was only one body found. The warrior who was ‘wearing typical feminine clothes of the period and had a hiltless sword placed on their left hip’.
DNA analysis found that the warrior may have had the sex-chromosomal aneuploidy XXY, i.e. the Klinefelter syndrome, meaning they were born with an extra X chromosome.
The press release reads: “If the characteristics of the Klinefelter syndrome have been evident on the person, they might not have been considered strictly a female or a male in the Early Middle Ages community.
“The abundant collection of objects buried in the grave is a proof that the person was not only accepted but also valued and respected.”
