Gertrude Aba Mansah Eyifa
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies
University of Ghana, Legon. Accra, Ghana
Abstract
While the sex of a person is biologically determined at birth, gender is a social construct
involving the sex-related roles of individuals in society (Renfrew and Bahn, 2008:230). When
archaeologists examine human remains, it is essential to extract the maximum information
while causing minimum damage to the remains themselves (Renfrew and Bahn 2008: 448). A
considerable amount of information on the gender of human remains can be gained by
understanding the cultural and archaeological contexts of the site under investigation. The
cultural practice involved in positioning of the body in a grave, the accompanying grave
goods and examination of the shape of the pelvis and other bones left intact, gives clues to the
gender interpretation of the human remain and the archaeological data. In addition,
ethnographic studies, oral traditions and historical records provide insights that guide
interpretations. This article looks at how the concept of gender is constructed among the
living and also how various cultures construct burials to reflect gender. The implication of
such gender constructs on archaeological interpretation of burials is also a focus of this paper.