Sure, there have presumably always been a few hermaphrodites as, essentially, biological mistakes. But we really have no idea how early humans understood the sexes. I am pretty sure they would not have had “intersex” identities, however. That seems like a projection back from modern conceits.
“Sure, there have presumably always been a few hermaphrodites as, essentially, biological mistakes. But we really have no idea how early humans understood the sexes. I am pretty sure they would not have had “intersex” identities, however. That seems like a projection back from modern conceits.”
Entirely wrong. When the Romans and Greeks had Male To Female (MTF) priestesses some two thousand years ago, such transgender people were already a part of their written histories going back yet another 3,000 years or more. There are also numerous indications the practices 5,000 years ago were also preceded by such customs thousands of years before the currently earliest known writings about such transgendered people.
From the biological point of view intersexed human biology must have always been present in the prehistoric human populations, whether or not they were incorporated into the cultures. We are also not just talking about the very rare incidence of CAIS (Complete Androgen insensitivity Syndrome) typically associated with True Hermaphrodites. There are a wide array of conditions which produce undifferentiated sex organs and physiologies. The estimated incidence of intersexed conditions range from a high of 1 in 100 births for the simplest intersexed variations to 1 in 2,000 for some of the more uncommon conditions. Those numbers do not take into account those persons engaged in trangendered behavior in the absence of physical manifestations of an intersexed condition.
Suffice it to observe the transgendered population was far better known in the ancient world and were often treated as important celebrities as sorceresses, priestesses, Female To Male monarchs and warriors, and more. This occurred in a multitude of cultures found all around the world from the iron Age villages in Siberia to the African Kingdoms of South Africa to the religious communities in Indonesia to the Amerindians cultures of north America.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/oldest-gay-man/story?id=13320808