To Have a Gay Caveman you First need a Caveman, and Proof that he was Gay. This Story has Neither!

 

Image Source: http://thebacklot.mtvnimages.com/uploads/2011/04/gaycavehead%20copy.jpg?quality=0.7

Ahhh, nothing like a dose of sensationalist media to start the day.  Although this story is getting a little outdated (2011), it's a valuable lessons on why we shouldn't trust media to report scientific discoveries. There is a score of websites reporting this discovery that seem to interpret ambiguous language from the original researcher as evidence of a "gay caveman." Yet, there is some redemption, as other outlets cover the response form the rest of scientific community who resoundingly deny this conclusion. Here is some highlights in three categories: The good, the bad, and the just plain ugly.  

The Bad:

"First Homosexual Caveman Found":

A great example of sensationalist headlining. As the tagline starts to use the phrase "may have found," and the rest of the article gets more ambiguous about this supposed "find."  The headline draws people in with a an outright lie, and then uses vague and non-definite language in an attempt to justify itself.  Hack journalism at its finest. 
Article Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8433527/First-homosexual-caveman-found.html

"Gay Caveman Found by Archaeologists Near Prague":

The intro to this article reads, "A team of Czech archaeologists claim to have unearthed the remains of an early gay man from around 2900-2500 B.C. outside Prague".  It's not true, though. The researcher claims it may have been a homosexual, transgendered, or transvestite individual, and nowhere claims that it is definitely a gay caveman.

Article Source http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/gay-caveman-found-prague_n_846246.html

"The Oldest Gay in the Village: 5,000-year-old is 'Outed' by the way he was Buried"
What?? I'm not even going to dignify this one with an explanation. Just read that headline over and over again and continually shake your head.....

Article Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1374060/Gay-caveman-5-000-year-old-male-skeleton-outed-way-buried.html#ixzz2v7PBbshn


The Good

Now it would be easy to just continually face-palm at the bad headlines and reporting, but luckily we have articles such as this  "Scientists speak out to discredit 'gay caveman' media reports" to try and set things straight.  Let's see how the sources in this article refute the gay caveman argument..

1. I like this quote from a University of Wisconsin Prof, "Dudes! I could be wrong, but I think that to have a 'gay caveman,' you need a skeleton that is both gay and a caveman. And this ain't either."
what we commonly define as "cavemen" lived around 25-30,000 years ago.  This burial was dates to around 5,000; which is 5,000 years after the beginning of the agricultural revolution.  This is not a caveman. He is not even close to being one.

2. " There is no way you can tell someone is homosexual by examining a skeleton," end of story.  The idea that this individual is "gay" because he has been buried like a female is present day society imparting our cultural assumptions on a 5,000 year old grave.  The truth its we may never know why this individual was buried this way.  Perhaps this was a great compliment, perhaps he had lost his status as a male, perhaps he was gay!WHO CARES?  There is now way we can be certain of his sexual orientation through archaeological remains.

3.  The original authors of the research never said this was a gay caveman.  Anthropologists say "news media misinterpreted the findings," which honestly shouldn't come as a big surprise.

4. Probably the most important response to this story, is the fact he was buried with others in the cemetery.  This shows cultural acceptance of whoever he was.  With all the buzz and hype this news story generated, there is no sign of this man being ostracized from his community. Maybe these tabloid newspapers could focus on that as a news story, and maybe some people could learn valuable lesson about the past...

Response Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/04/10/czech.republic.unusual.burial/


The Just Plain Ugly: A Look at some of the images attached to this story.... 

Apparently, according to this image, rainbow's have been a symbol of Gay pride since ancient times.

Image Source: http://a.abcnews.com/images/Health/abc_itn_gay_caveman_110407_wg.jpgtion 

Image Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs4dHXmKXKc3BF8vZ5e6LSc38dGuElJqwYPZNTaDXinBOvkEqzCbWdEiVQUbsg2D6z5RdjnWU4SNuCjbTwzRvGrrj9hZfJ1HG40J0CQkUD2n7BDbGrFkkSkEBl7fr2bLjo5j6HHx_EN5OY/s1600/GayCaveman.jpg

Not Content to settle with a Rainbow, the New York Daily news needed to throw the two male symbols linked into the back ground to reiterate their point.

Image Source: http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.114639!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/alg-gay-cave-man-jpg.jpg

Looking at these, all I can think it "Really now? I mean REALLY?"  This is why we don't go to the "news" to interpret science... Go to the source.