Ancient Bodies, Ancient Lives is a concise examination of gender, sexuality and the family in ancient societies. The author draws on a wealth of recent studies, revealing the story of sexual identities across a vast span of time to be a diverse and compelling one that offers profound challenges to modern stereotypes. Mayan Queens, Old European matriarchs, Medieval nuns, and Central Asian `Amazons' are among the examples used to demonstrate that the distinction between men and women was not the only way in which people in the past defined themselves, nor even the most important one. This book will be essential reading for those interested in archaeology, gender, sexuality and women's studies.