6 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A Thousand-Year-Old Iron Age-old grave in Finland Is Ascribed to a Prominent Non-Binary Person

Archaeologists found a weapon grave in Finland’s Suontaka Vesitorninmäki in 1968. The remains discovered in the burial have been at the center of a heated controversy regarding the gender of its inhabitant ever since. Initial interpretations of the bones suggested a lady was buried there, although these views have long been contested.

Now, DNA research of the burial, including an assessment of its contents, soil samples, and microremains, has once again challenged long-held beliefs. According to the study, the 1000-year-old burial might be that of a non-binary individual.

The new findings not only call into question long-held beliefs but also raise the potential that non-binary persons were formerly welcomed and valued among their peers. According to the results of the DNA study, which was published in the European Journal of Archaeology, the inhabitant of the burial was a respected person with non-binary gender identification.

For decades, it was thought that two remains, a man and a woman, were buried in the Suontaka burial. Inside the burial, jewelry resembling modern women’s clothes, such as oval brooches and woolen garments, was discovered. At the same time, it possessed masculine characteristics, such as a hiltless sword.

However, recent DNA research revealed that the burial only contained the bones of one individual, who appeared to have the uncommon Klinefelter disease. One in every 660 males is born with an extra copy of the X chromosome, which causes the syndrome (XXY). Males with the syndrome are still genetically male, but the disease can result in larger breasts, a tiny penis and testicles, poor sex desire, and infertility.

In the researcher’s articles, “For decades, the grave has been a popular example of powerful women in Late Iron Age and early medieval societies. The grave was used as evidence of female leaders in the past. The decorated bronze-hilted sword allegedly found in the Suontaka burial is presented as a female warrior’s weapon, ” they said.

A plan of the Suontaka burial. ‘Täckdike’ marks the water pipe trench which led to the discovery of the grave. (Photo: Finnish Heritage Agency)
A plan of the Suontaka burial. ‘Täckdike’ marks the water pipe trench which led to the discovery of the grave. (Photo: Finnish Heritage Agency)

“The buried individual seems to have been a highly respected member of their community,” the study’s leading author Ulla Moilanen an archaeologist from the University of Turku, told The Guardian. “They were laid in the grave on a soft feather blanket with valuable furs and objects.”

According to the researchers, one explanation is that the individual was accepted as a non-binary “because they already had a distinctive or established status in the society for other reasons,” such as being from a wealthy or prominent family or being a shaman.

The researchers studied the microscopic animal hair and fiber remains in the soil retrieved from the grave, and studied ancient DNA (aDNA) in the bone remains to infer the individual’s chromosomal sex. It should be noted that historically, the gender identity of the burials was inferred from the objects or remains of objects found nearby. However, with the advancement of technology and modern genetics, new methods have been developed to determine the sex of the remains.

What is non-binary?

Non-binary individuals are persons who do not identify with a certain gender. People who are neither male nor female, according to the National Centre for Transgender Equality, use a variety of words to identify themselves, with non-binary being one of the most prevalent. Genderqueer, agender, and bigender are examples of alternative words.

None of these phrases signify the same thing, yet they all refer to a gender experience that isn’t just male or female.

Cover Photo: An artist’s reconstruction of the burial, showing the position of the objects on the body. (Photo: Veronika Paschenko/European Journal of Archaeology)

Related Articles

A marble slab with an inscription from the 2nd century was discovered during excavations in Bulgaria

18 October 2023

18 October 2023 3

Archaeologists discovered a 1,900-year-old marble slab bearing an ancient Greek inscription in the Roman Baths of Hisarya, a small resort...

Scientists have discovered an ancient cemetery of flying reptiles roaming the Atacama desert of Chile 100 million years ago

7 April 2022

7 April 2022

In Chile, an unusual cemetery has been discovered that contains the well-preserved remains of prehistoric flying reptiles that flew over...

Archaeologists, First-ever Roman-era Tombs Dug Directly into the Rock Uncovered in Al Bahnasa, Egypt

8 January 2024

8 January 2024

Spanish archaeologists made a ground-breaking discovery of rock-hewn Ptolemaic and Roman tombs, mummies, coffins, golden masks, and terracotta statues in...

Archaeologists unearth 3,500-Year-Old Gold Jewelry in Egypt

14 December 2022

14 December 2022

Archaeologists discovered a collection of ornate jewelry at the Tell El-Amarna necropolis on the Nile River’s eastern bank in modern-day...

Dacian Treasure Discovered in Romania, Possibly Indicating a Hidden Settlement in Breaza

12 April 2025

12 April 2025

In the spring of 2025, an extraordinary archaeological discovery was made in the Breaza commune of Mureș County, Romania, when...

After 85 years of adventure, Globetrotting Mycenaean gold ring returns home

3 June 2022

3 June 2022

The 3,000-year-old gold Mycenaean ring, stolen from the Rhodes Archaeological Museum during World War II and later bought by a...

Young Metal Detectorist Discovers Huge Viking Treasure Hoard in Denmark

23 April 2023

23 April 2023

A group of hobby metal detectorists has discovered two Viking treasures buried a few meters apart near the ruins of...

New stone ram heads unearthed in Luxor, Egypt

15 October 2021

15 October 2021

Mustafa al-Waziri, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), recently announced the discovery of new stone ram heads...

Analysis of 13,000-Year-Old Bones Reveals Violent Raids in Prehistoric ‘Jebel Sahaba’

28 May 2021

28 May 2021

Since its discovery in the 1960s, the 13-millennium-old Jebel Sahaba cemetery (Nile Valley, Sudan) has been regarded as one of...

The 20-million-year-old fossil of a sea creature in the ancient city of Tyana may have been used as a means of payment

22 October 2021

22 October 2021

During the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Tyana in the Kemerhisar district of Niğde, a 20-million-year-old fossil thought...

A rare Pictish stone was found near the potential site of the famous Scottish battle that led to the creation of Scotland

7 March 2022

7 March 2022

A team of archaeologists has discovered a Pictish symbol stone close to the site of what is thought to have...

Mystery of the World’s Oldest Map on a Nearly 3,000-year-old Babylonian Tablet Finally Solved

28 October 2024

28 October 2024

A recent British Museum video reveals that the “oldest map of the world in the world” on a clay tablet...

Unexpected Results Of Ancient DNA Study: Analysis sheds light on the early peopling of South America

3 November 2022

3 November 2022

Around 60,000 years ago, modern humans left Africa and quickly spread across six continents. Researchers can trace this epic migration...

A Rare Ancient Saber Discovered in Kyrgyzstan

5 August 2023

5 August 2023

An ancient saber (heavy military sword with a long cutting edge and, often, a curved blade) was found by three...

Ancient Jordanian town referred to as Heshbon in the Old Testament provides insight into regional agricultural history

20 January 2022

20 January 2022

The American archaeologist stated that Tell Hisban, located on the Madaba plains of Jordan, represents the “granary of the empires”....