Experts Are At it Again: 5,000 Year Old Elaborate Tomb Belonged To a Female
For decades they referred to the remains as the Ivory Man but now it's the Ivory Lady
Hiya!
I know I keep saying that we’re living through an intense yet incredible time in history, but it’s true. A global shift is happening, and it’s affecting everything. “The way things have always been” no longer works for our rapidly advancing societies and the threats we’re facing in modern times. One such area being overturned is the role of gender norms throughout history.
In the past, archeologists often assumed that lavish ancient tombs belonged to men — especially when weaponry was included. However, with the help of advanced technology, experts now realize that many of these remains actually belong to women. These findings challenge social norms that have long said men were warriors and women were not. Now, a new burial site challenges that long-held assumption, and she’s just the latest of a long list.
The Tomb
You might think that most of the bias was applied to burials discovered sixty-plus years ago or longer, back when gender roles were far more engrained into Western societies than they are today. But the tomb we’re discussing was found less than two decades ago, in 2008, by archaeologists in Valencia, Spain, who were stunned by a couple of aspects.
First, the burial site contained a cornucopia of treasures, including ostrich eggshells, a rock crystal dagger, plenty of ivory — including an African elephant tusk—and a high-quality flint inlaid with amber.
Secondly, there was only one set of remains, which was rare for the time experts dated the grave to — the Iberian Cooper Age, or from about 4500 to 2200 B.C.E. Based on analysis at the time, the person likely died between 17 and 25 years old. However, the skeleton’s pelvis wasn’t in great shape, which is where the most prominent differences between male and female skeletons lie.
Given the impressive burial goods, gender bias, and that the pelvis had eroded, the researchers assumed the site belonged to a powerful and wealthy leader they called the “Ivory Man.” Leonardo García Sanjuán, an archaeologist at the University of Seville in Spain and co-author of the new study I’m telling you about next, said when compared against their database, the wealth and status of the presumed Ivory “Man” was more impressive than 2,000 other Copper Age burials in the region.
The Ivory Man Lady
Skip ahead 15 years to July 06, 2023, when a plot twist occurred when the journal Scientific Reports published a new study by researchers at the University of Seville and the University of Vienna, both in Spain, stating that the Ivory Man is actually an Ivory Lady.
Thanks to scientific advancements, researchers used a new technique called an amelogenin peptide analysis which allows them to identify an individual’s sex using their tooth enamel via the AMELX gene, which is found on the X chromosome. Sanjuán said they found the gene after testing two teeth, which told them “precisely that the skeleton was female.” The amelogenin peptide process is so exact that it can sometimes be more effective than DNA analysis, especially when the remains are in poor condition.
This finding means that the person perceived to have the highest status on the Iberian peninsula during the Copper Age was female. It adds more evidence showing that women could have high-status roles in that region during that time frame. Not just sorta high status either.
According to Sanjuán, the Ivory Lady might have even been the “highest-ranked person” during her lifetime — and then some. The study’s authors believe that for at least eight generations following her death, the society she lived in held her in high regard. Especially considering that radiocarbon dating of the dozens of graves surrounding her tomb over 200 years since her passing.
Beyond her sex, the bone analysis showed researchers that she was tougher than the fragility of the Ivory Lady’s modern title might imply. It appears she was no stranger to physical labor. According to Sanjuán, the Ivory Lady “did not have a life of comfort or luxury,” instead she “led through example.”
That’s Not All They Learned
Beyond the culture shock that such a luxurious tomb could belong to *gasp* a female. Archeologists also found another impressive tomb nearby, still not as impressive as the Iron Lady, but instead of a single person, this elaborate burial held the remains of at least 15 females. Suggesting the Iron Lady wasn’t the only female holding a leadership position or with high status at the time.
Naturally, this discovery leads experts to search for other clues about how ancient societies were structured. In this case, the researchers found that the society’s infants were buried without goods, which suggests that status or wealth wasn’t inherited. Meaning it’s possible the Ivory Lady rose to her high status for her accomplishments and who she was rather than which bloodline she was born into.
Add it to the Pile
A historian at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, Alison Beach, who was not involved in the study, points out a big reason behind all the upset reactions to discoveries like the Ivory Lady and others like her.
“This research provides one more piece of evidence questioning old historical narratives. It’s not exclusively true that men have always been the most revered or held the most authority.”
The Ivory Lady is just one piece of a much broader project funded by the European Commission called WOMAM: Women, Men, and Mobility, Understanding Gender Inequality Through Prehistory, which is dedicated to studying the gender of prehistory.
Perspective Shift
Just last December, I told you about the ancient Viking warrior that was long thought to be male and is shown to be female — repeatedly— despite several arguments otherwise (including that maybe the female-born person was actually transgender.) Sigh. Anyway, as more cases like the Viking warrior and the Ivory Lady surface, the proof is quickly becoming undeniable.
This information shows us that much of what we’ve been told to believe about the roles men and women played in history is far more expansive than the boxes around us today. And burials like the Ivory Lady aren’t the only way experts disprove old assumptions. Some experts are going back even further in time and challenging the gender role assumptions in hunter-gatherer societies. But I’ll wait to tell you about that on Monday.
Just as a reminder, you’re currently reading my free newsletter Curious Adventure. If you’re itching for more, you’ll probably enjoy my other newsletter, Curious Life, which you’ve already received sneak peeks of on Monday mornings. The subscription fee goes toward helping me pay my bills so I can continue doing what I love — following my curiosities and sharing what I learn with you.
You can find more of my writing on Medium. If you’re not a member but want to be, click here to sign up! Doing so allows you to read mine and thousands of other indie writers to your heart’s content.
Lastly, if you enjoy my work and want to show me support, you can donate to my PalPal or my Ko-fi page, where you can also commission me to investigate a curiosity of your own! Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.
Question ALL the narratives. Without all sorts of people doing research, we’ll always be stuck with single story narratives.