Ancient Etruscan Warrior Corpse Discovered Last Month Was Actually A Warrior Woman

One spear led to a flurry of incorrect assumptions. The remains of an elite member Etruscan society belonged to a woman and not a man, according to the blog of Judith Weingarten alumnus of the British School at Athens.

Many major news outlets like The Huffington Post and Discovery Magazine were quick to cover the story of the "Etruscan Warrior Prince" while others hoped it would be the corpse of Tarquinus Priscus, the "legendary fifth king of Rome from 617 BCE to 579 BCE", according to Weingarten.

"It's a unique discovery, as it is extremely rare to find an inviolate Etruscan tomb of an upper-class individual." professor Alessandro Mandolesi, whose team excavated the ancient corpse, said. "This one is completely intact and may well reveal further surprises."

But the scientific and journalistic community assumed too quickly that the skeleton was a man, that the spear was his, and that the ashes next to his corpse were all that remained of his wife. Osteological analysis revealed the warrior was actually a 35-40 year old woman, Weingarten reported. The ashes likely belonged to her husband.

The debate persists about the ownership of the spear and its significance. Professor Mandolesi believes the spear was a symbol of marriage between the woman and her husband and that its ownership was unclear, according to Weingarten.

Weingarten believes Mandolesi was being unfair in his assertions. She points to the Etruscan culture, where men and women ruled relatively equally. She later told Live Science that since the spear was buried next to her and not him, it was probably meant as a sign of her own high status.

Weingarten used the mix up as an opportunity to point out wrong assumptions historians sometime make about gender.

"Until very recently, and sadly still in some countries, sex determination is based on grave goods," she said. "And that, in turn, is based almost entirely on our preconceptions. A clear illustration is jewelry: We associate jewelry with women, but that is nonsense in much of the ancient world. Guys liked bling, too."