The most prominent person in the Iberian Peninsula during the Copper Age was a woman: ‘La Señora del Marfil’

2023-07-07 10:40:06

In 2008, an individual was discovered in a megalithic tomb in the Valencina deposit de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán (Seville), known for short as Valencina. The dating indicated that it was from the Copper Age, between the years 2900 y 2650 a. C.

Until now it was thought that a young man of high social status was what has now been renamed ‘La Señora del Marfil’

In addition to being a rare example of a single-occupied burial, the tomb contained a large number of valuables, suggesting that its occupant – originally thought to be a young male between the ages of 17 and 25 – He had a high social status.

Now, researchers from the University of Seville (US) and other academic centers in Vienna (Austria) report in the open access journal Scientific Reports that he was not a man, but a woman: the most prominent subject in the Iberian Peninsula during that time.

General appearance of the tomb of ‘La Señora del Marfil’. / Research Group ATLAS-University of Seville

The authors have analyzed substances from the dental enamel of the now renamed ‘The Lady of the Ivory‘. Specifically, they have examined a molar and an incisor, where they have detected the presence of “amelogenin peptides sexually dimorphic.

Peptides from dental enamel have confirmed the female sex of this leading person in the Copper Age

This novel technique allows, like DNA, to identify the chromosomal sex of bone remains, but, unlike DNA, it does not present as many sample contamination problems, which is why it is expected to revolutionize research in the coming years. in prehistoric archeology and, particularly, in gender archeology.

The teacher Marta Cintas Penafirst author of the study, believes that “this scientific technique will mean a huge leap forward in the knowledge we have about prehistoric societies, and especially about women and children, who have traditionally and unfairly been placed in the background ”.

It represents a leap forward in knowledge about prehistoric societies, especially about women and children, who have traditionally and unfairly been placed in the background

Marta Cintas Peña (US)

An exceptional trousseau and burial in Seville

The ‘Lady of the Ivory’ was buried almost 5,000 years ago along with exceptional grave goods, which included two separate fangs African and Asian elephant, amber Probably from Sicily flint high quality, ostrich eggshell and one from with a rock crystal blade and an ivory sleeve, among other singular objects.

The exceptional grave goods of ‘La Señora del Marfil’ included flint blades, decorated elephant tusks, ostrich eggshell and a dagger with a rock crystal blade and ivory handle. / Miriam Luciañez Triviño

At a time when most burials were collective, the remains of this young woman between 17 and 25 years old they were deposited in a chamber all to itself. This individual character of the tomb and the extraordinary set of objects deposited next to it suggest that the ‘Lady of the Ivory’ had an outstanding social position.

The authors suggest that the ‘Ivory Lady’ achieved her rank on her own merits, not by inheritance

For two hundred years, the area around his grave was used as a funeral and worship spacebut always respecting a margin of about 35 meters around it, which suggests that the memory of its existence and importance was maintained for at least 8 to 10 generations.

In addition, the scarcity of child burials, as well as the lack of grave goods associated with non-adults, indicates that high-status individuals reached their social position through merit while alive, and not by family inheritance. The authors suggest, therefore, that the ‘Ivory Lady’ reached her rank through her own merits.

“We believe that it is one of the most important discoveries of the last decades to understand the early social complexity between the Neolithic and Chalcolithic societies of Europe”, highlights the co-author. Leonardo Garcia Sanjuan of the US.

It is one of the most important discoveries of the last decades to understand the early social complexity between the Neolithic and Chalcolithic societies of Europe.

Leonardo García Sanjuán (US)

Leading Women in the Copper Age

Those responsible for the work emphasize that no tomb of a man with a social status equivalent to that of the ‘Ivory Lady’ has been found.

The only comparable one from the Copper Age found in the Iberian Peninsula is also found at the Valencina site, and contains the remains of at least 15 women: the famous tholos de Montelirio. People descendants of the leader could have built it.

All this new information suggests that women held leadership positions in the Iberian society of the Copper Age and invites us to reconsider their role in prehistoric societies.

Elephant tusk found in the tomb of the female leader of the Copper Age. / Research Group ATLAS-University of Seville

Reference:

Marta Cintas-Peña et al. “Amelogenin peptide analyses reveal female leadership in Copper Age Iberia (c. 2900–2650 BC)”. Scientific Reports2023

The research has been possible thanks to funding from the European Commission within the framework of projects WOMAN: Women, Men and Mobility. Understanding Gender Inequality in Prehistory y The Value of Mothers to Societyas well as through the project Temporality, Landscape and Social Complexity in the Great Megalithic Sites of Andalusia: Antequera and Valencinafrom the call for R+D+i Projects of the FEDER Andalusia Operational Program.

Rights: Creative Commons.