Rosemary Joyce

Rosemary A. Joyce
Born	1956
Nationality	American
Occupation	Anthropologist / archaeologist
Known for	archaeology of chocolate and sexuality

Rosemary Joyce (born 1956) is an American anthropologist and social archaeologist who has specialized in research in Honduras. She was able to archeologically confirm that chocolate was a byproduct of fermenting beer. She is also an expert in evaluating the archaeological records of society and the implications that sexuality and gender play in culture.

Biography

Rosemary A. Joyce was born in 1956.^[1] She is an American professor of anthropology at UC Berkeley. She has conducted social archaeology in Honduras since 1977, focusing on analysis of households, ceramics^[2] and the cultural roles of sex and gender which are found in both the material remains and physical remains of Mesoamerican societies. Central America and Mexico were regions where sexuality and gender in ancient societies began being studied in the 1960s. Iconography showed that women had held positions of power in society even though men were more often portrayed than women. Joyce has stated that artistic works show that young males were often subjects being viewed by both men and women, which indicates a more fluid gender spectrum.^[3] In a comparative study conducted in tandem with Lynn Meskell, who has done similar studies on ancient Egyptian society, Joyce and Meskell contrast Maya civilization and that of the New Kingdom of Egypt. On the one hand, both societies existed before Plato's concept in dualism—the mind and body are separate—entered into acceptance. Also in both cultures, the archaeological remains tend to be objects, writings, and images of elite males.^[4] Both were phallic cultures but in Egyptian imagery the penis is exaggerated and perfect male bodies are the subject of female adoration. In the Mayan culture, penile imagery is also exaggerated, but typically the phallus is hidden, but highlighted, and offered by a young male to the gaze a politically dominant male. Egyptian women appear to be sexualized, even as girls, indicating no demarcation between childhood and adulthood, but Mayan women appear as unsexualized beings and are usually draped unless suckling an infant. Thus studies can give insight not only into how ancient worlds viewed sexuality and gender roles but^[5] how objects they used might have been used differently.^[3] Spiritual practices also show the concepts of sexuality and gender were different in pre-conquest Mesoamerica, as throughout the region deities, like the Mayan corn or moon gods, had both male and female attributes.^[6]

Another aspect of Joyce's work was a study conducted with John Henderson, an anthropologist from Cornell University. Traces of cacao found on Honduran pottery shards were examined and discovered to have been used to produce beer. Initially the pod was fermented and the seeds discarded. At some point, ancient beer makers began to use the seeds to make a non-alcoholic beverage, which was a bitter chocolate drink.^[7] To confirm their findings, Joyce and Henderson contacted archaeometrist Patrick McGovern and chocolate chemist for Hershey Chocolate, Jeffrey Hurst, to analyze the residues. They confirmed the presence of theobromine, a chemical found in cacao, but rare in other plants. The research connected the Honduran site to Mayan cacao fields which were thousands of kilometers away. Though clear evidence of trade,^[8] studying the civilizations in Honduras, Joyce has found that they do not have the same social inequality as existed in the Maya world. Institutionalized power did not take hold and evidence points to smaller cities linked together in which "women were as likely as men to have held positions of power".^[9]

References

1. Joyce, Rosemary A.; Preucel, Robert W.; Lopiparo, Jeanne; Guyer, Carolyn; Joyce, Michael (2002). "The Languages of Archaeology Dialogue, Narrative, and Writing" (PDF). Blackwell Publishers. p. 6. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
2. "Rosemary Joyce Ph.D.". Psychology Today. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
3. Plumer, Hannah (2 November 2011). "Gender in Mesoamerica: Interpreting Gender Roles in Classic Maya Society". Anthrojournal. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
4. Nelson 2006, p. 387.
5. Nelson 2006, p. 388.
6. Rosenberg, Mica (23 November 2008). "Mexican transvestite fiesta rocks indigenous town". Reuters. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
7. Drye, Willie (12 November 2007). "Chocolate Origins Traced to Beer Makers 3,000 Years Ago". National Geographic. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
8. Price & Burton 2010, p. 141.
9. Yuhas, Alan (11 March 2015). "Archaeologists condemn National Geographic over claims of Honduran 'lost cities'". London, England: The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2015.

Bibliography

• Nelson, Sarah M. (1 January 2006). Handbook of Gender in Archaeology. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman Altamira. ISBN 978-0-7591-0678-9.
• Price, T. Douglas; Burton, James H. (2010). An Introduction to Archaeological Chemistry. New York: Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4419-6376-5.