The only gay in the Stone Age village

I have always ascribed to the idea that homosexuals serve an important role in human culture.

It just makes sense to me that both Hunters and Gatherers would benefit from having non-hetero Members of their community. Homosexual liaisons would have allowed Hunters to stay away from the community longer, and reduce male-male conflict. Similarly, the Gatherers would benefit from having a male's strength while not creating a sexual threat within the all-female environment.

The same principles could be applied to female homosexuals as well.

Well, 5,000 years after he died, the first known gay caveman has emerged into the daylight.

According to archaeologists, the way he was buried suggests that he was of a different sexual persuasion.


The skeleton of the late Stone Age man, unearthed during excavations in the Czech Republic, is said to date back to between 2900 and 2500 BC.

During that period, men were traditionally buried lying on their right side with the head pointing towards the west; women on their left side with the head facing east.

In this case, the man was on his left side with his head facing west. Another clue is that men tended to be interred with weapons, hammers and flint knives as well as several portions of food and drink to accompany them to the other side.

Women would be buried with necklaces made from teeth, pets, and copper earrings, as well as domestic jugs and an egg-shaped pot placed near the feet.

The ‘gay caveman’ was buried with household jugs, and no weapons.