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#AceHistoryDesk – Analysis of two teeth dating back nearly 5,000 years has shown that a lavish megalithic tomb in Spain contained a high-status woman, not the young man archaeologists first assumed.

Researchers used a new method of determining sex that analyses tooth enamel. This technique, developed about five years ago, is more reliable than analysing skeletal remains in poor condition, according to their study published on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.

The finding indicates the leadership role women played in this ancient society that predated the pyramids of Egypt — and perhaps elsewhere.

She has been dubbed the “Ivory Lady” because of the finely crafted ivory grave objects surrounding her and the fact that a full elephant tusk was laid above her head during burial, as if protecting her, in a tomb dating to between 2800 and 2900 BC.

The tomb, excavated in 2008 near the city of Valencia, was more impressive than any other known from the Iberian peninsula from the time.

“She stands out as the most prominent person ever to have lived in that period” in this region, said University of Seville Professor of Prehistory Leonardo García Sanjuán, one of the authors of the research published in the journal Nature.

While the researchers do not know precisely who she was or what societal role she played, they suspect she combined political and religious power and may have been viewed as the founder of an important clan.

No male of similarly high status has been found at the site. Located nearby was a similarly lavish tomb containing the bodies of at least 15 women — thought to have been built by people claiming descent from the “Ivory Lady”.

“The third millennium BC is a time of major transformation. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, the early centuries of the third millennium correspond to early dynastic polities,” Professor García Sanjuán said.

“In the British Isles, it is the peak time of Stonehenge, a major megalithic monument and sanctuary.

“In Iberia, it is a time of increased social complexity, with intensification of production, more availability of surplus, growing inter-regional connectivity and increased social inequality and political hierarchy.

“The ‘Ivory Lady’ reflects all these elements.”

This time period on the Iberian peninsula featured complex societies but predated the formation of political entities like states.

“This study throws new light on a problem we know preciously little about: the social and political role of women among early complex pre-state societies,” Professor García Sanjuán said.

The “Ivory Lady” shows that women may have held high leadership positions during the Copper Age, a transitional period between the Stone Age and the more technologically sophisticated Bronze Age.A carved elephant tusk was found above the head of the “Ivory Lady”.(AP: Miguel Ángel Blanco de la Rubia/ATLAS — University of Seville)none

“The political complexity of pre-state societies is usually associated with concepts such as ‘big man’ or ‘chiefdoms,’ which explain the emergence of early forms of leadership,” said study co-author Miriam Luciañez-Triviño, a researcher in the University of Seville’s Department of Prehistory and Archaeology.

“In the ethnographic literature, these leaders are most often males. However, our study provides data that may help to revise interpretations of [Iberian] peninsular and European prehistory, showing that we still know little about the role of women in positions of power during this period,” she added.

The entombed skeleton’s fragmentary state made it hard to determine sex.

Certain features had led to an earlier conclusion that the person was “likely male”.

The researchers solved the mystery by analysing a molar and an incisor — detecting the presence of a gene regulating a certain enamel-forming protein to reveal it was a woman.

“One of the keys to progress in prehistoric archaeology is the use of all the new analytical methods available,” Luciañez-Triviño said.The tomb contained items indicating a high status.(AP: Miriam Luciañez Triviño/ATLAS — University of Seville)none

AP NEWS AGENCY & REUTERS NEW AGENCY HISTORY REPORTS

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