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4.8 Sex Incidence - Area patterns

The south west area

The period 3500-2500bc has mixed burial incidence very heavily represented in Table 197 at 38%, and although it is low over 2500-8/700bc at 3%, mixed burial rises well above the average to 14% and 16% over 8/700bc-AD43. Sole female burials are steady throughout except in 8/700-100bc where they rise steeply in percentage terms (14% against the 6-7% in other periods), but on a rather low numerical base (Table 196). Sole male burials are lower in 3500-2500bc and rather higher than average in 14/1300- 8/700bc and 100bc-AD43, but the base is small. Table 198 traces the proportions of a characteristic incidence through the five periods, and reflects these results.

The south area

Table 200 shows the south area having an unusually high incidence of sole male burial in 3500-2500bc (29%), and of sole female burial over 8/700bc-AD43 (21-19%). Mixed sex burials are also higher than the average in that period (21-17%). On small samples (Table 199) not much more may be said using this evidence alone.

The south east area

The area provides more evidence pro rata for sex identification than the other two. There are a few variations around an average of 16% for sole male burial, 14% for sole female burial and 7% for mixed burial (Table 203). The period 3500-2500bc has a higher incidence of all three types with sole female burial leading, and this pattern nearly exactly recurs in 8/700-100bc. A caveat must be made about the low numerical base (Table 202). Sole male burial incidence peaks in 2500-14/1300bc at 20% and is at its lowest in the next period at 6% and in 100bc-AD43 at 9%. The area shows the same higher incidence of mixed sex burials in the earlier two periods and in the last two.


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