(ORDO NEWS) — Archaeologists have discovered the burial of a woman in a burial ground full of men. The burial was decorated with items related to hunting, masculinity and power.
The researchers believe the find could reveal details of how women were treated in this society during the Neolithic or New Stone Age.
The woman was buried with “traditionally male” arrowheads
In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , scientists described the burial of a woman that was found in a “male” burial mound in Normandy, France.
The burials date from around 4600-4300 BC and are considered among the oldest burial structures in Western Europe.
The graves were an atypical design with raised mounds up to 300 meters long, which were used to bury only one or two people. Presumably, only status members of society were buried in this place.
How was the research?
Scientists discovered the remains of 19 people and were able to conduct DNA analysis of 14 of them. Only one body was female.
The woman was buried with “symbolically male” arrows. According to the researchers, this “calls into question a purely biological sexual bias in burial rites” of that place and time.
Having endowed a woman with “male” artifacts, people of that time opened her access to a burial place next to men.
Scientists have also used DNA analysis to determine any family links between people buried there. Surprisingly, apart from the father and son buried in the same mound, no biological links were found.
This and other evidence indicates that the burial belonged to a patrilineal community in which social power passed through the male line and women simply “married” clan members.
The only woman was probably the exception and held a leadership position in the community. Scientists continue to study to better understand its role.
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