Abstract
The DNA analysis of 53 child burials from the Bell Beaker cemetery at Hoštice-I produced data on 21 sexed individuals. Out of 14 burials with male gender attributes were 12 individuals biologically male and two determinate as women.
Cases of girls that were brought up as boys probably existed in 3rd Millennium BC burial customs. Out of seven children buried in the female position only 1was actually biological female (juvenile15-20 years) and 6male (2juvenile15-19/20years).
That means four boys (aged3-4,7,8-12,15) were in fact buried as women. Such result is in line with known demographic unbalance within Beaker cemeteries.
Most young girls were not buried at the communal cemetery and considerable number of boys were buried in the female fashion. This is rather high number of cases when the masculine attributes were downplayed in the burial customs and it is hard to interpret whether they were boys supposed to be brought up as women or they had yet no right to act as men, unlike some other sub-adult boys, perhaps members of families with ascribed hereditary warrior status.
It almost seems that some young boys were socially considered to be girls, perhaps until ceremonial rite of passage, social initiation of some kind.