Why was this woman buried among men in the Neolithic?

Prehistoric tombs contain many clues to the human societies that preceded ours. The cemetery dating from Neolithic discovered in Fleury-sur-Orne, in Normandy, has just delivered an important discovery as to the complexity of the concept of identity of people at this time. Indeed, several tumulus dating from the Neolithic are present in the Paris Basin and contain the skeletons of men and women, in similar proportions.

A woman to embody masculinity?

However, a research team recently published the results of analyzes DNA of fourteen people buried at the level of the tumulus of Fleury-sur-Orne (Calvados) in the newspaper PNAS. Of these, thirteen were men and only one was a woman. Moreover, the arrows laid out in the tomb of this woman were traditionally associated with men.

Replicas of arrowheads and other artifacts found in the tombs have been made. The latter are characteristic of hunters in the local culture at this time. © Pascal Radigue, CC by-sa 4.0

If it is impossible to affirm that this woman was considered a hunter, she nevertheless probably embodied masculinity. One author of the study indicates that ” these male gender artifacts place her beyond her biological sexual identity». The right to burial in this gigantic tumulus should therefore be restricted to persons embodying the male sex.

It is possible that this woman was also of high social status, which could have contributed to her burial at this probably prestigious site. However, isotopic analyzes which would provide information on the diet of this woman as well as on her geographical origin, are to be carried out in order to test this hypothesis.

The Neolithic cemetery of Fleury-sur-Orne was discovered by aerial photographs in the 1960s. The National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) has been carrying out a major “rescue excavation” there since 2014. © Pascal Radigue, CC by 4.0

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