One of the world’s earliest carvings conveying human sexuality shows bisexuality was normal, even over 3,000 years ago

The Kangjiashimenji Petroglyphs, rock carvings found in a remote region in northwest China, show a fertility ritual.

Archaeologist Wang Binghua discovered the symbols in the late 1980s, but little has been written about them.

In a new report from Mary Mycio, the carvings show 100 figures which abstractly depicts different ways of expressing sexuality.

While carvings have been found dating back over 20,000 years, these petroglyphs are probably the most explicit and intricate.

Mycio writes: ‘The few scholars who have studied the petroglyphs think that the larger-than-life hourglass figures that begin the tableau symbolize females. They have stylized triangular torsos, shapely hips and legs, and they wear conical headdresses with wispy decorations.

‘Male images are smaller triangles with stick legs and bare heads. Ithyphallic is archeology-talk for “erect penis,” and nearly all of the males have one.

‘A third set of figures appear to be bisexual. Combining elements of males and females, they are ithyphallic but wear female headwear, a decoration on the chest, and sometimes a mask. They might be shamans.

Mycio describes four fully-developed scenes, beginning at a height of 30 feet.

In the first, nine large women and two small men dance in a circle while a bisexual to the side shows off an obvious erection.

The second scene shows women and men dancing in a frenzy around a large erect bisexual about to penetrate a small female. On the left, another bisexual in a monkey mask is about to penetrate another faceless person.

The next scene is smaller, showing a chorus line of infants emerging from a female being penetrated simultaneously by a male and a bisexual while three other erect males await their turn.

In the last full scene, it contains no women at all.

Mycio writes: ‘Ithyphallic males and a bisexual take part in a frenzied dance. One male seems to have his arm around another while a loner near the bottom seems to be masturbating as a parade of tiny infants streams from his erection. It looks a lot like a frat party.’

It could be argued the bisexuals are not people attracted to both genders, as the figures could be transgendered or similar to the ‘two-spirit’ people found in North American tribes.

If you would like to read the entire report, click here.