Skeleton of a Real Amazon Discovered in Armenia?
#1
Posted 30 November 2019 - 08:05 AM
#2
Posted 30 November 2019 - 08:05 AM
Radiocarbon dating of the artifacts located in and around her grave indicate that she was likely a woman of stature. Anahit Khudaverdyan
More than 2,000 years ago, a young Armenian woman found herself at the forefront of a battle. Now, her newly unearthed remains are allowing archaeologists a window into how ancient societies lived and died on the battlefield.
Researchers excavated the poorly preserved remains in 2017 and found the woman buried on her side with flexed arms and legs and her head oriented to the northwest. Her skeleton was “fragmented and incomplete,” with cracks and fractures occurring on her bones in the thousands of years since her burial. An analysis of her dental wear, cranial sutures, and other indicators of trauma allowed for an understanding of the type of injuries she suffered just before her death.
A metal arrowhead was found buried in her femur likely shot by a bow, strongly suggesting that the woman was injured in some type of combat. Healing around the site of the arrowhead indicates that she lived for some time with the injury before dying, possibly from additional sword or hatchet blows to the pelvic bone, femur, and tibia in a “rich array of traumatic lesions.”
“During the combat, the woman had been most likely exposed to direct blows to the defensive shield (the power transmitted from the end of the shield to the ulna), or direct blows when the forearm was used to ward off the blow,” study author Anahit Khudaverdyan told IFLScience.
It was determined that the woman died aged between 20 and 29. Radiocarbon dating of the artifacts located in and around her grave indicate that she was likely a woman of stature.
“We know nothing about her social position, but the burial with rich inventory testifies to high status. Though the overall position of women was lower than men, yet, on the whole, the position of woman was good,” write the authors of the study published in International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, noting that upper-class women enjoyed freedom and were generally well-respected.
During her time, the Kingdom of Urarti (Urartu), or Bianili, was an “uncommon developed culture” flourishing in the Armenian Highland from the 9th century BCE to 585 BE. Strategically located between Europe and Asia, it is likely that the society had contacts with major empires of the ancient world. Defensive architecture suggests that the city likely experienced warfare and fear of assault. As soon as they passed eight or 10, boys rode on horseback and hunted deer, buffalo, and mountain goats in much the same way that they used for defensive purposes.
“For the people of the Armenian Highland, bows, and arrows turned into an efficient weapon to be used against the intruders, particularly when shot from horseback. Research shows that both men and women rode horseback while participating in battles and hunting. This is evidenced by female warrior graves discovered in many parts of the Caucasus,” wrote the authors.
Her remains are the second burial discovered in Armenia that provides evidence on female warriors. As Khudaverdyan notes, evidence suggests that Urartian kings fought with the enemy along with their wives, potentially serving as the “prototype of the Amazons,” the Greek myth of the tribe of warrior women that supposedly came from the Caucasus, which Armenia is part of.
Images show metal arrowhead embedded in the bone at wound site. Anahit Khudaverdyanhttps://www.iflscien...w-before-death/
#3
Posted 02 December 2019 - 12:15 PM
is it me ? our forum looks bit changed ..
#4
Posted 03 December 2019 - 08:44 AM
How so, I did not notice any change.
#5
Posted 11 January 2022 - 08:02 AM
More than three millennia ago, across the Mediterranean and Near East, society collapsed. Previously stable dominant empires and civilizations were brought to their knees, entire languages disappeared, and what had been pastoral and nomadic communities were replaced with imposing and fortified citadels run by a paranoid elite.
Life was violent and cruel. People were forced to take up arms to defend themselves and their kin. But while we’re used to the idea of men saddling up and waging war, a new paper, published recently in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, has found the remains of two female warriors – horse-riding women who fought for their people with bows and arrows.
“Previously, it was common knowledge that the injuries on males' skeletons testify to military clashes, whereas on females' – to … raids or domestic violence,” lead author Anahit Khudaverdyan told IFLScience.
But recently, that prejudice has been slowly breaking down. Skeletons that had long been assumed to be male – because, well, why would a woman have been buried like an honored warrior? – have been conclusively proven to be female, and archaeologists have found themselves revisiting the idea that ancient trauma was segregated so strictly.
“The role of a victim or aggressor is culturally specific,” Khudaverdyan explained. “[It] is not always determined by … biological sex.”
The women found buried in the Jrapi cemetery – the third site in Armenia to reveal the remains of ancient female warriors – had lived through extensive physical trauma before they died. The first, an older woman of about 45 to 50, had been smashed across the back of the head with a mace or a sling at some point – an injury so severe it had left a noticeable dent in her skull. She likely died in battle: the arrow that killed her was found still lodged within her ribcage.
The second woman was much younger – just a teenager. But she had suffered even more extreme violence in that short life: she had been shot badly in the ankle at some point, and stabbed in the jaw from below with a dagger – injuries which hint at a possible role as a cavalry soldier, the authors note. Her skull had also been caved in by a mace, leaving an injury “similar” to the older woman’s, “but larger,” the paper says, and though it wasn’t a fatal blow, the authors note that the girl “might have had disabilities acquired from serious hits … [for example] motor, cognitive, and psychological impairment.”
Both, however, were “well trained, muscular, presumably conducting archery-related hard physical activity on a regular [basis],” the paper notes. They were buried with bowls and jars, but also arrows, daggers, and decorative beads – the funerary rites of “professional warriors,” Khudaverdyan told IFLScience.
While graves of women warriors are rarely discovered in Armenia, the country has a rich and proud traditional mythology of women warriors, the authors note: they are “documented not only by anthropological data but also by archeological and historical evidence,” the paper explains, and “women riders depicted on vases and bronze belts could be fully compliant with the perceptions of the population in Armenia.”
“Not only [did] ordinary Armenian women [defend] their native land with arms … but also noble Armenian queens and princesses inspired generations with their courage, fearlessness, and feat of arms,” the authors write. “In the 12th century brave defender Aytsemnik left a notable mark in the history of the Armenian medieval capital Ani … She courageously repulsed the attacks of the Seljuk troops headed by emir Patlun. Sose Mayrig, participant of the Armenian national liberation movement, wife of the famous hajdúk leader and hero from Sasun Aghbiur Serob, fought side by side with her husband against the Turks and the Kurds.”
While evidence of women or non-binary combatants often stirs controversy, Khudaverdyan told IFLScience that the discovery “cannot be controversial.” The idea of women being unsuited for war comes mostly from 19th century prejudices, the paper explains, but “the study of human remains themselves frees the researcher of problems of historical bias,” Khudaverdyan said.
“Information that would otherwise be invisible about humans’ lived experiences because it didn't make it into written records rises to the surface when the researcher consults the skeleton,” she added. “In this sense, the skeleton provides some of the most direct evidence of past lived experiences.”
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