A tomb unearthed at the La Almoloya archaeological site in Murcia has prompted archaeologists to reconsider long held assumptions about women’s power in Bronze Age societies in Europe. The team of researchers found a collection of exquisite artefacts at women’s graves at the site.
The burial site has been described by archaeologists as one of the most lavish Bronze Age burial sites ever discovered in Europe. The findings have sparked speculation that the women of the El Argar society were among the rulers. The El Argar society – among the first to use bronze – flourished on the Iberian peninsula until around 1550BC.
A team of researchers have been on site in Murcia since around 2013 and have made a number of significant findings. The most astonishing was published last week in archaeological journal, Antiquity. The research indicates fascinating findings of a man and a woman buried in a large ceramic jar, both of whom died close together in the mid-17th century BC. The couple had at least one child together — an infant discovered buried beneath a nearby building was a genetic match to both of them.