Growing into Gender: Funerary Practice of Boys and Girls in the Bronze Age Maros culture (2100-1700 BC)

This study investigates the relationship between biological sex and gendered funerary practices among children of the Bronze Age Maros culture in northern Serbia. Using peptide-based sex identification from dental enamel, we determined the biological sex of 76 non-adult individuals (≤18-22 years) from the cemeteries of Mokrin and Ostojićevo. The results were compared with each individual’s burial orientation and body placement, key elements of the Maros funerary norm known to reflect binary gender differentiation among adults. Statistical analyses revealed a strong correlation between peptide-determined biological sex and side of the body placement, as well as a correlation between biological sex and orientation. At Mokrin, biological sex was strongly associated with orientation and moderately associated with side. At Ostojićevo, the relationship was even stronger, but in a smaller sample. These findings confirm that boys were buried according to the male (north-south orientation, on their left side) and girls according to the female norm (south-north orientation, on their right side), mirroring the adult burials. The consistency of these practices demonstrates that binary gender identity was socially recognized from early childhood within Maros society. Occasional deviations, representing fewer than 10% of cases, may reflect errors in documenting body placement and side, biological sex estimation, or socially meaningful exceptions. Overall, the obtained results highlight the expression of binary gender division from the youngest age, providing one of the most comprehensive datasets for non-adult individuals.