Gender Bias in 5,600-year-old cemetery of Panoria, with burials of women occurring at twice the rate of men

A multidisciplinary research team made a remarkable discovery at the megalithic necropolis of Panoría (Granada, Spain). There was a startling disparity between the entombments—twice as many women as men!

They found that the number of women buried was double that of men, with an even more pronounced disparity among juveniles, where the ratio stood at 10 females for every male. This raised questions about the demography of the ancient region.

The research, a multidisciplinary research team, led by the Archaeometry group from the University of Tübingen and the GEA group from the University of Granada, has focused on analyzing the bone remains found in nine graves of this necropolis, where twice as many women as men were buried.

The necropolis of Panoría is located at the easternmost end of Sierra Harana, in the town of Darro (Granada). It consists of at least 19 graves, 9 of which have been excavated between 2015 and 2019.

They are collective burials from which more than 55,000 human skeletal remains were recovered. The dating of these remains shows that the first burials took place 5600 years ago with discontinuous funerary use until 4100 years ago.

“The Panoría population shows a clear sex ratio imbalance in favour of females, with twice as many females as males,” scientists wrote in the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Researchers surmised that prehistoric society probably had a social structure centered on women, with burial customs primarily determined by maternal lineage.

In the study, the use of new bioarchaeological methods has allowed the identification of chromosomal sex from the study of DNA and the analysis of a protein known as Amelogenin present in the tooth enamel.

In this way, it has been possible, for the first time, to obtain a precise demographic profile of the biological sex of the people who were buried in these megalithic monuments.

For the research team, the gender ratio bias is what has drawn the most attention. Generally speaking, this distribution is fairly balanced; notable imbalances are only seen in extremely specific situations, like mass migrations, natural disasters, or wars. But in Panoría’s case, this prejudice has persisted for over a millennium, indicating that it is a deeply embedded social practice rather than a singular or transient occurrence.

This means that family relationships and social belonging are established through the maternal line.  This would account for the preference for women and the lack of young men who could have joined other kin groups—a practice known as male exogamy in anthropology.

In any event, the disproportionate number of women would point to a social structure that was centered on women, and where gender would have shaped cultural customs and funeral rites.

In any event, the study’s findings point to a complex social structure where gender was a major factor in determining a person’s chances of survival in this part of the Iberian Peninsula.

On a 5,300-year-old skull, archaeologists find evidence of the first known ear surgery

Humans may have begun performing ear surgery more than 5,000 years ago, say Spanish archaeologists.

Spanish researchers say the skull they found in a Spanish tomb, with seven cut marks found near the left ear canal, is an indication that a person with “anatomical knowledge” performed a primitive surgical procedure to relieve possible ear pain.

“These evidences point to a mastoidectomy, a surgical procedure possibly performed to relieve the pain this prehistoric individual may have suffered as a result of otitis media and mastoiditis,” the Spanish researchers concluded in an article released on Tuesday in Scientific Reports.

The skull, which according to the study belonged to an elderly lady, was discovered with other human remains of over 100 persons in a massive, single-chamber, multi-phase tomb dating from the late Neolithic era known as the Dolmen of El Pendón in Reinoso, Burgos, Spain, in 2018.

Manuel Rojo-Guerra of the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Valladolid, who together with colleagues Sonia Díaz-Navarro and Cristina Tejedor-Rodríguez have been excavating the site since 2016.

The skull showed evidence of two perforations on both sides of the skull near its mastoid bones, which indicates that the surgery attempted to relieve growing pressure in the ear canal.

It is unknown if the procedures were carried out at the same time, or during separate occasions, they said, but specific bone growth around the area indicates that the woman survived both procedures.

“Given the chronology of this dolmen, this find would be the earliest surgical ear intervention in the history of mankind,” the researchers said in their report.

Rojo-Guerra said the additional discovery in the tomb of a flint blade with traces of having cut bone and having been reheated several times at between 300-350 degrees leads them to propose that it was used as a cauterization surgical instrument for the procedure.

Doctors at the University Hospital of the University of Valladolid confirmed that the procedure would have been very similar to surgical interventions that are still performed today to eliminate middle ear infections, he said.

The world’s oldest wine, discovered in liquid form, was found in a Roman tomb in Spain

Archaeologists discovered an urn with a reddish liquid in a family mausoleum dating to the 1st century AD in the Carmona necropolis in Seville. An archaeochemical study identified this liquid as white wine, making it the oldest wine preserved in liquid form.

The Spanish urn was recovered in 2019 after a family having some work done on their house in Carmona stumbled across a sunken tomb on their property. This tomb, dated to the early 1st century AD, contained eight niches, six of which housed cinerary urns with cremated remains and various objects typical of Roman funeral rituals.

The tomb contained eight burial niches, six of which held urns made from limestone, sandstone, or glass and lead. Each urn contained the cremated bone remains from a single individual and two of the urns were inscribed with the names of the deceased: Hispanae and Senicio.

The urn in Niche 8 was what set this discovery apart. Inside an oval lead box with a flat-domed lid was this urn, a glass ossuary pot with M-shaped handles.  Inside it, five liters of a reddish liquid were discovered, presumed to be part of the original content along with the cremated bone remains.

Analysis by experts at the University of Córdoba has established that the ancient tawny liquid inside the urn is a local, sherry-like wine.

“The wine turned out to be quite similar to wines from here in Andalucía: Montilla-Moriles; sherry-type wines from Jerez, and manzanilla from Sanlúcar,” said José Rafael Ruiz Arrebola, an organic chemist at the University of Córdoba who led the analysis of the wine.

By using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), scientists were able to identify the chemical components of the wine’s mineral salts, which included common elements found in old wines like potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

Additionally, they identified polyphenols—compounds found in grapes and, consequently, in wine—using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry or HPLC-MS. Researchers were able to identify the liquid as white wine due to the presence of specific polyphenols and the mineral salt profile.

The remarkable longevity of the wine in its liquid state bears witness to the sophisticated Roman methods of preservation and storage, as well as the distinct climatic circumstances that permitted its preservation for nearly two millennia.

Before the discovery, which is reported in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the oldest wine preserved in a liquid state was the Speyer wine bottle, which was excavated from a Roman tomb near the German city of Speyer in 1867 and dated to about AD 325.

According to the researchers, the use of wine in Roman funeral rituals is well-known and documented. Therefore, once the cremated remains were deposited in it, the urn must have been filled with wine in a kind of libation ritual during the burial ceremony or as part of the funeral rite to help the deceased in their transition to a better world.

They conclude that the results obtained in this work strongly suggest that the reddish liquid in the ash urn was originally wine that decomposed over time and that it was about 2,000 years old, making it the oldest wine found to date.

Scenes of Warriors from 6th Century BC on a Slate Plaque Discovered at Tartessian Site in Spain

Archaeologists representing Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC) excavating at the archaeological site of Casas del Turunuelo have uncovered a slate plaque about 20 centimeters engraved on both sides where various motifs can be identified.

The slate plaque includes drawing exercises, a battle scene involving three characters, and repeated depictions of faces or geometric figures.  According to early indications, this rare find in Guareña (Badajoz, Spain) may have supported the engraver as they carved designs into pieces of wood, ivory, or gold.

The new campaign has also made it possible to discover the location of the east door that gives access to the Stepped Room, excavated in 2023 and known for the discovery of the first figured reliefs of Tartessos.

The Tartessians, who are thought to have lived in southern Iberia (modern-day Andalusia and Extremadura), are regarded as one of the earliest Western European civilizations.

The Late Bronze Age saw the emergence of the Tartessos culture in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula in Spain.

The culture is characterized by the use of the now-extinct Tartessian language, which is combined with local Phoenician and Paleo-Hispanic characteristics. The Tartessos people were skilled in metallurgy and metalworking, creating ornate objects and decorative items.

The team from the Institute of Archaeology of Mérida (IAM), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Junta de Extremadura, directed by Esther Rodríguez González and Sebastián Celestino Pérez, is responsible for these archaeological excavations.

At a press conference, the team of CSIC experts highlighted the importance of the discovered slate plaque, which shows four individuals identified as warriors, given their decorated clothing and the weapons they carry.

Initial indications, though they require further investigation, point to the piece being a jeweler’s slate, a material that would have supported the artist while they engraved the motifs on pieces of wood, ivory, or gold.

“This discovery is a unique example in peninsular archaeology and brings us closer to understanding the artisanal processes in Tartessos, previously invisible, while also allowing us to complete our knowledge of the clothing, weaponry, or headdresses of the depicted characters, as they proliferate with details,” says Esther Rodríguez.

This documentation complements the finding made in the previous campaign, where the documentation of several faces allowed, for the first time, admiration of how the society of the 6th-5th centuries BC wore their  jewelry.

The researchers also worked on the eastern gate, which they identified in 2023. Based on the nature of the documented architectural remains and the discovery of the building’s east door in the center of a monumental facade more than three meters high, the research team believes that this door confirms the main access to the building on its eastern end, which retains its two constructive floors.

The door links the Stepped Room to a large slate-paved courtyard, which has a cobblestone corridor in front of it. This corridor separates the main body of the building from a set of rooms where interesting material lots have been recovered.

Additionally, the archaeological materials recovered from the adjoining rooms located in front of said access suggest that it is the production or artisanal area of the building.

The finding of the outside rooms devoted to various artisanal activities is also noteworthy since it sheds light on societal issues that were unknown during this time period and strengthens Tartessos’ artisanal identity.

“Our efforts will now focus on studying the recovered remains, both from the face reliefs and the ivories. As for the archaeological work at the site, our goal for the next campaign is to delineate these production areas that seem to extend, at least, along the entire eastern side of the site. In parallel, we will begin to open the rooms flanking the main space, which have an excellent degree of preservation and can help us define the functionality of the building,” said Sebastián Celestino.

Unique ‘Excalibur’ Sword Found Upright in Ground Unearthed in Spain Holds Islamic Origins

Researchers have finally unraveled the mysteries of the historical sword discovered in Spain 30 years ago, which they named ‘Excalibur’ because of its location, which evokes similarities with the legendary sword of King Arthur.

The iron sword was first discovered stuck in the ground upright in 1994 at an archaeological site in Valencia’s old town, a city on the eastern coast of Spain. This location, which is north of the old Roman Forum, has seen the rise and fall of many cultures over Valencia’s turbulent history.

For the past 30 years, the sword’s origin and age have remained a point of confusion — until now.

Valencia’s archaeology department decided to catalog and review the artifacts in its collection ahead of its 75th anniversary, the City Council of Valencia said in an April 22 news release. One of those artifacts was the Excalibur sword.

Since its unearthing, the sword’s true age has eluded scholars. However, recent efforts by the Archaeology Service (SIAM) of the Valencia City Council have shed light on its origins, reports Horta Noticias.

Through meticulous dating techniques, they have determined that the sword hails from the 10th century, firmly establishing its antiquity at over a millennium old.

SIAM’s analysis indicates that this sword represents the first discovery of its kind from the Islamic era in Valencia. Swords from this period are generally scarce in Spain, particularly in Valencia, where the soil’s composition poses challenges to preservation efforts.

Archeologist José Miguel Osuna, who led the research project on “Excalibur” earlier this year, found that the 18 inch-blade was from the Islamic period because of its hilt, decorated with bronze plates and notches for handling.

The sword’s curved metal tip caused confusion among researchers, who thought it might have belonged to the Visigoths, but Osuna later disproved this idea.

The sword’s size and the fact that it doesn’t have a hand guard suggest that a mounted warrior may have used it in the Andalusian caliphal era.

Municipal technicians are clear that its origins are in the Islamic era of Balansiya, even though it may display evolutionary traits from Visigothic models.

Only one comparable specimen has surfaced thus far, unearthed amidst the excavations of Medina Azahara, the illustrious caliphal city commissioned by Abderramán III in Córdoba. The Islamic period in Spain began in A.D. 711 and ended in A.D. 1492.

“Thanks to the archaeology scholarship convened by the Valencia City Council, the archaeologist José Miguel Osuna is carrying out a detailed study of analysis of metallic objects that go from Roman times to the late medieval period and where a new and exceptional find has come to light, which we have called the Excalibur de Roc Chabàs to be very similar to the legendary sword of King Arthur.” José Luis Moreno, Valencia councilor for cultural action, heritage, and cultural resources, said in a press release.

⚔️Una espada encontrada en 1994 ha sido catalogada como islámica del siglo X gracias a José Miguel Osuna, beneficiario de la beca de arqueología municipal de @CulturalVLC

Denominada Excálibur, es la primera arma de época islámica encontrada en #València
🔗https://t.co/0Kj4vFTew3 pic.twitter.com/YxRNzzypou

— Ajuntament València (@AjuntamentVLC) April 22, 2024

City council cultural representative José Luis Moreno noted in the release that the sword was just one of many artifacts — from the Roman era to the late medieval period — being studied in the city’s archeological collection for the department’s 75th anniversary.

Well-preserved 7,300-Year-Old Wooden Cabins Discovered In La Draga

Archaeologists excavating at La Draga de Banyoles, an early Neolithic lakeshore site in Spain, have uncovered well-preserved 7,300-year-old wooden cabins. The ancient structures are in excellent condition and make it possible to gain knowledge about farming communities that settled in L’Estany at the beginning of the Neolithic, about 7,200 years ago.

Archaeological discoveries in other parts show wood can survive much longer than most think. For example, the world’s oldest wooden structure discovered recently in Zambia is worth mentioning.

Excavation of well-preserved wood at the archaeological site of Kalambo Falls dating back at least 476,000 years and predates the evolution of our species, Homo sapiens.

Looking in another direction, we learn that the Boxford Timber discovered in Berkshire is Britain’s oldest carved wood.

Wood has archaeological value and has been a vital resource to past human societies.

At La Draga, scientists from several universities have worked together and focused on the northernmost area of the site, the so-called sector B, which has the particularity of having better conditions for the conservation of organic matter.

So far, it is in this sector where the most apparent architectural evidence of the wooden cabins of the ancient settlers of La Draga has appeared and where a more significant number of tools and utensils made of wood and plant fibers have also been found.

“The work at the La Draga site has made it possible to document structural elements of wooden constructions in a very good state of conservation. They are mainly large wooden planks over three meters long that occupy practically the entire surface of the excavated area.

The excavation process should allow us to make very precise interpretations of the shape of these huts, the construction techniques and the time of their construction, and their relationship with areas excavated in previous campaigns,” the co-directors of the research project Toni Palomo and Raquel Piqué (UAB) and Xavier Terradas (CSIC-IMF Barcelona) said in a press release.

At the same time, the campaign has carried out two archaeological and paleological prospecting actions on the western shore of the Lake, both terrestrial and underwater.

On the one hand, soundings have been made on the west shore of Banyoles Lake, within the municipality of Porqueres.

In this case, the objective is to obtain new sedimentological and paleoenvironmental data that should allow the La Draga team of researchers to reconstruct the environmental dynamics of Banyoles Lake during the Holocene and verify the possible presence of other prehistoric occupations in this place.

“The soundings carried out have allowed us to document signs of great interest to reconstruct what the environment was like in prehistoric times,” comments Dr. Jordi Revelles, Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral researcher at IPHES-CERCA.

The current study also helped to “contextualize findings made in previous surveys when signs of use of the space were documented around 5,000 years ago, more than 2,000 years later than the town of La Draga”, he adds.

Scientists emphasize underwater surveys have also been carried out on the lake’s western shore, in the area between Punta Freixenet and Punta Cuaranya.

The work has made it possible to document large areas of peaty sediment with a significant presence of preserved organic matter such as, for example, wood remains. The analysis of the samples carried out allows us to understand better the dynamics of the prehistoric and historical settlement of the Lake.

Unique 2,000-Year-Old Decorated Roman Sandal Lost By Well-Cleaner Found In Spain

About 2,000 years ago, a Roman man tried to clean a well and lost a sandal.

The well-preserved ancient shoe was discovered during archaeological excavations at Lucus Asturum (modern-day Lugo de Llanera in Asturias, northern Spain).

Mentioned by astronomer, mathematician, and geographer Ptolemy in his work Geography Lucus Asturum was a Roman settlement that served as an administrative center and communications hub in the north of the Iberian Peninsula between the first and fourth centuries A.D. between the first and fourth centuries A.D.

Over the years, archaeologists have unearthed Roman thermal baths, buildings, and intriguing artifacts at the site.

Two years ago, in 2021, “a team led by archaeologist Esperanza Martín located a large house with a central courtyard and a well. This summer, excavations at the site were resumed and the archaeologists decided to descend, using a system of pulleys to avoid damaging the remains, to the bottom of the well.

Inside, among many other Roman pieces, they found a sandal lost by a man who tried to clean the well 2,000 years ago. Despite the humbleness of the object, it is a unicum — an archaeological object without equal — because it is decorated with circles, ovals, and falciform figures.

There are no more than 20 Roman sandals preserved in Hispania and this is the only one that is decorated. It is in a good state of preservation, as the silt at the bottom of the well generated an anaerobic system that prevented the reproduction of microorganisms,” El Pais reports.

“The remains we found, due to the anoxia generated by the high water table in the area, are in an exceptional state,” says Martín.

“The silts have created an anaerobic environment thanks to the plasticity of the clays that compose them, so the organic materials have been perfectly preserved.”

At a depth of about three meters, the specialists extracted part of the wooden cover of the well, a tiled floor for the decantation of silts, several jars, seeds, chestnuts, pine nuts, mollusks, the remains of domestic and wild fauna, an acetre, or bronze, cauldron, a small metal ring and the sandal, among other objects.

“It is almost complete and retains the cutting notches to hold it in the upper leg area. It is more than likely that it was lost by someone who came in to clean [the well] when it got caught in the silt. It is a unique object as it is decorated.”

The ancient sandal lost by the Roman well-cleaner “is currently refrigerated to avoid degradation until it can be restored and exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Asturias,” El Pais reports.

Romans produced excellent shoes that were meant to last. A similar find was made in the small village of Thérouanne, France, where archaeologists discovered 1,700-year-old Roman shoes and an exceptional glass workshop.

66-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Skin Impression Discovered In Spain

In Spain, detailed skin impressions of a giant dinosaur discovered 66 million years ago in a muddy riverbank have been discovered. The fossil was created over centuries by sand petrifying into sedimentary rock, and it clearly shows the pattern of massive scales that once lined the creature’s hide.

The prints are thought to have been left by a titanosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, just before dinosaurs went extinct.

‘This is the only registry of dinosaur skin from this period in all of Europe, and it corresponds to one of the most recent specimens, closer to the extinction event, in all of the world,’ said lead researcher Victor Fodevilla, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

‘There are very few samples of fossilized skin registered, and the only sites with similar characteristics can be found in the United States and Asia.’

Instead, the team envisions the creature that made the impressions with a huge four-footed sauropod, possibly a titanosaurus – one of the biggest animals ever to walk the Earth.

And researchers found footprints near the site that support the titanosaur theory.

‘The fossil probably belongs to a large herbivore sauropod, maybe a titanosaur, since we discovered footprints from the same species very close to the rock with the skin fossil,’ said Fodevilla.

The discovery was made in the village of Vallcebre, near Barcelona, in an area that was once the bank of an ancient river. It is thought the dinosaur left an imprint of its scales when it laid down in the mud to rest. Over time, the region where the animal left its prints was eventually covered with sand.

And over the course of thousands of years, the area petrified to form sandstone, preserving the astonishing impressions recently discovered by the researchers. 

Since the sand acted as a mold, what is seen on the rock is a relief of the animal’s original skin. 

How the process happened is unique, as the Late Cretaceous period corresponds to the moment shortly before dinosaurs became extinct, there are few places on Earth containing sandstone from this period.

Characterizing these dinosaurs is very important in order to understand how and why they disappeared. 

Two skin impressions were found, one about 20 centimeters across and the other five centimeters, separated by a distance of 1.5 meters.

And experts believe they were made by the same animal.

The ‘rose’ pattern of the scales is characteristic of certain dinosaurs, said the researchers, who describe their find in the journal Geological Magazine.  

‘The fact that they are impression fossils is evidence that the animal is from the sedimentary rock period, one of the last dinosaurs to live on the planet,’ said Fondevilla.

‘When bones are discovered, dating is more complicated because they could have moved from the original sediment during all these millions of years.’ 

This discovery also verifies the excellent fossil registry of the Pyrenees in terms of dinosaurs living in Europe shortly before they became extinct. 

‘The sites in Berguedà, Pallars Jussà, Alt Urgell and La Noguera, in Catalonia, have provided proof of five different groups of: titanosaurs, ankylosaurids, theropods, hadrosaurs and rhabdodontids,’ said Àngel Galobart, head of the Mesozoic research group at the ICP and director of the Museum of Conca Dellà in Isona. 

‘The sites in the Pyrenees are very relevant from a scientific point of view, since they allow us to study the cause of their extinction in a geographic point far away from the impact of the meteorite.’