Surprise.. The remains of a prominent Bronze Age metalworker belong to a woman

- A new DNA analysis has revealed that human remains from the Bronze Age, previously thought to belong to a prominent metalworker, actually belong to a woman. This discovery raises questions about long-held beliefs regarding the nature of ancient British society. The skeleton, which dates back about 4,000 years and is known as "Shaman Upton Lovell," was found inside a round burial mound, a special type of grave reserved for individuals of high social status, according to Tom Booth, the lead researcher at the Francis Crick Institute in London, in an interview with Afaq News.

When the grave was first discovered in the early 19th century in the Upton Lovell area of southern England, archaeologists found a wide range of distinctive funerary artifacts, including axes, a gold necklace, and bone heads. The axes showed traces of gold along their edges, indicating that the grave's owner was involved in goldsmithing, and possibly also in working with other metals such as copper and bronze, according to Booth.

He added: "She was buried with her tools in a special way because she was considered a person of exceptional status." He noted that the number and variety of funerary items make this burial unique in the Bronze Age, not only in Britain but also in Europe.

He stated: "There are no other graves that compare to this one in terms of the diversity and quality of the funerary artifacts present." This association with high status, along with the initial analysis of the size of the bones, led archaeologists to conclude that the burial belonged to a man.

Since DNA testing was not available at that time, this belief persisted until Booth and his colleagues studied the skeleton as part of a broader project to sequence ancient genomes. The test results showed that the skeleton belonged to a female, and Booth commented that "it was not what we expected," adding: "We are changing an understanding that has lasted for two centuries about this skeleton, so we had to be cautious."

He explained that he retested two additional samples of the skeleton to confirm, and the result was the same on both occasions. He said: "This conclusively confirms that the skeleton belongs to a woman, and she was likely a metalworker, specifically a goldsmith, and she held a special status within her community, which explains her burial under one of these circular mounds, alongside this massive and unique collection of funerary artifacts."

He added that this discovery also challenges previous assumptions that women buried with valuable items must have been wives of influential men. He said: "This discovery undermines the idea that women in those societies were not capable of holding power or prestigious status on their own."

Booth also pointed out that the woman discovered in Upton Lovell was taller than the average height of women in that era, measuring about 163 centimeters, which is close to the average height of men in the Bronze Age, making it reasonable for researchers to have previously thought she was a man. He also explained that her death at around 45 years old, after menopause, made determining her sex based solely on the bones more difficult, as women's bones become more similar to men's bones with age.

As for the reason for naming the skeleton "Shaman of Upton Lovell," which came from the belief that the grave goods were associated with rituals and spiritual practices, Booth believes that the work of metal shaping itself had a ritualistic character due to its importance in European trade networks during the Bronze Age. He said: "This shows how important metalworking was as an activity linked to the ritual life of people, as well as to their economic life to some extent."

He added: "This metalworking woman was an essential part of a vast network for trade and metal production and exchange." The results of this research are being showcased in a new free exhibition at the Francis Crick Institute titled "We Go Way Back."

In turn, Pontus Skoglund, a population geneticist and head of the ancient genome laboratory at the institute, stated that the broader project, which aims to sequence the genomes of about a thousand ancient individuals, will contribute to the development of our scientific understanding of the past. He added in an interview with Afaq News: "As we continue to build an ancient genetic record available to the public, it will provide a rich source of information for archaeologists and others, and help to form a better understanding of ancient societies and the people who lived in them."