cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1207808

In 2008, archaeologists in Valencina, Spain, discovered a stunningly ornate tomb. The single-occupancy grave, a rarity in itself for the time, contained a treasure trove of valuables: a rock crystal dagger, high-quality flint, ostrich eggshells and ivory, including the tusk of an African elephant.

Dating to the Iberian Copper Age—some 5,000 years ago—it held an individual who likely died between the ages of 17 and 25. Assuming the tomb belonged to a wealthy, powerful leader, scientists called this individual the “Ivory Man.” But now, 15 years later, researchers have determined that the Ivory Man was actually an “Ivory Lady,” according to a study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.

To reach this conclusion, researchers used a new technique that can identify an individual’s sex based on tooth enamel. This process can be more effective than DNA analysis when studying remains in especially poor condition.

This new research shows that women could hold high-status roles in Iberian society at the time—and that this particular woman may have even been the “highest-ranked person” during her lifetime, says study co-author Leonardo García Sanjuán, an archaeologist at the University of Seville in Spain, to Live Science’s Jennifer Nalewicki. He adds that the Ivory Lady’s wealth and social status were impressive even when compared against a database of approximately 2,000 Copper Age burials in the region.

“The Ivory Lady totally stands out, head and shoulders above the rest, either male or female,” he tells Science’s Celina Zhao.

Researchers think that the Ivory Lady may have been revered for several generations, reports CNN’s Katie Hunt. Other graves and artifacts around her tomb date to as late as 200 years after her death.

Additionally, one nearby tomb—the only “comparably lavish” grave in the area, according to a statement announcing the new study—contains the remains of at least 15 women, suggesting that other women held leadership positions and high status during this period. (...)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/790099

Shattering the myth of men as hunters and women as gatherers

The team found that regardless of their maternal status, women hunt in 79 percent of the societies they studied. Over 70 percent of female hunting also appears to be intentional, instead of opportunistic killing of animals encountered while doing other activities. Women’s intentional hunting appears to target game of all sizes, but was most often large game

A painting has been saved for the UK in recognition of its “outstanding significance” for the study of race and gender in 17th-century Britain, it will be announced on Friday.

The anonymous artist’s portrait of two women – one black and one white, depicted as companions and equals with similar dress, hair and jewellery – has been bought by Compton Verney, an award-winning gallery in Warwickshire.

Titled Allegorical Painting of Two Ladies, the work, part of the English school dating to about 1650, appears to be a moralising picture, criticising the use of cosmetics in altering a person’s natural appearance.

Their faces are covered in curious beauty patches that were fashionable at the time and which the painting’s inscription condemns as a sin of pride, a widespread opinion in the 17th century.

Wearers of such patches or spots – made of silk or velvet – risked provoking the wrath of God. Part of the purpose of the patches was to hide imperfections or signs of disease. The white sitter wears black patches of various shapes and the black sitter has white ones.

The painting was at risk of permanently leaving the UK after being auctioned in Shropshire in 2021. A temporary stop to allow a UK institution to acquire it was placed by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest.

The independent body, serviced by the Arts Council, advises the secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object intended for export is of national importance under specified criteria.

Noting that its departure from the UK would be a “misfortune”, the committee’s report stated: “The depiction of a black female sitter in a 1650s painting was highly unusual … inviting important debate about race and gender during the period.”

It added: “It visualises in a way that no other painting of the period does the early modern debates concerning the morality of cosmetics use; discourses on ideal beauty and blackness; issues concerning gender hierarchy and female agency; as well as attitudes to race and ethnicity, especially so in an age that witnessed increasing global contact through trade and colonial expansion.”

You might (or might not) have had a New Year's resolution, but what's your summer resolution?

Mine: Going for more hikes, camping & kayaking. And of course, staying away from reddit.