Elaborate burial site of ‘The Ivory Lady’ and her descendants contains more than 270,000 shell beads

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Archaeologists studying a burial site in southernwestern Spain dating back approximately 5,000 years ago report that the women buried there were entombed with a large quantity of white beads, which, when combined, would have created elaborate, gleaming garments.

Although, the collection from the Montelirio grave, which is part of the Valencina archaeological site near Seville, holds the record for the largest collection found so far worldwide, according to new research findings.

The researchers approximated that the collection consisted of 270,769 round beads primarily made from seashells, which would have required a group of 10 people working 8 hours a day for 206 days, roughly seven months, to produce. This estimate does not take into account the time it would have taken to gather the shell material from the shoreline.

We believe the beads were used to create ceremonial clothing that high-status women would wear to special events or ceremonies," said lead researcher Leonardo García Sanjuán, a professor of prehistory at the University of Seville. "These items must have been quite cumbersome, not something you'd wear in your normal daily attire.

He said that a lot of the shells looked iridescent because they still had a mother-of-pearl shine to them.

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Bead-adorned ceremonial dress

The team discovered most of the beads in a big room within the Montelirio tomb, where the remains of 20 individuals were found, consisting of 15 women and five people whose sex was unknown. A smaller room with two female burials also contained beads.

Archaeologists have been uncovering beads from the tomb for years, but this study represents the first time the entire collection has been thoroughly examined. The researchers have identified what they think could be threaded beads that might have been used to create two complete beaded garments, such as tunics, skirts, and possibly other types of clothing or cloths whose shapes are unclear.

Study coauthor Marta Díaz-Guardamino, a professor of archaeology at Durham University in the United Kingdom, said that many of the beads appeared arranged in rows that covered large areas of the bodies, indicating they formed some sort of outfit. Additionally, plant remains found inside the beads' holes suggested that thread was used, she noted.

“She thinks the time and labor it took to create these beaded robes vastly surpassed what’s required for a modern couture red carpet dress. The process would need to involve many more hours and people to produce them, making the entire project a massive undertaking unmatched anywhere else in the world.”

Some of the circular beads had been stored in containers by the researchers, while others were encased in large chunks of dirt found in the tomb.

The team cleaned, weighed, counted, measured, and examined the beads in detail to figure out how and why they were made, said García Sanjuán.

"They would have been extremely sparkly in the sunlight and that would have been a very powerful sight to see these women standing in front of a crowd performing whatever rituals they were responsible for carrying out," he added.

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The Montelirio tomb was constructed approximately 4,875 years ago and remained in use for a period of about 100 to 200 years. The grave is located roughly 100 meters (328 feet) away from that of "The Ivory Lady," whose skeletal remains were found buried with an elephant's tusk, an ivory comb, a crystal dagger, an ostrich eggshell, and a flint dagger inlaid with amber and other valuable objects.

According to a study that utilized a novel molecular technique using a sex-specific peptide known as amelogenin, the Ivory Man is discovered to be a female. The coauthor of the report was García Sanjuán, who teamed up with researchers from the University of Seville and the University of Vienna.

Researchers used the same method to determine the sex of most of the individuals at the Montelirio tomb, García Sanjuán noted, adding that the tomb was probably built by people who respected and believed themselves to be descendants of the Ivory Lady. Unfortunately, the team has not been able to obtain high-quality DNA samples from the remains to find out how the people buried there might be related.

"The Ivory Lady" was not initially buried with beads, although several were later added to her grave, García Sanjuán noted.

11 minutes per bead

As part of the study, Sanjuán's coauthor, Samuel Ramirez-Cruzado of the University of Seville, tried to make beads using the same types of shell and tools that were available back then. How long it took depended on the type and thickness of the shell being used.

On average, it took him 55 minutes. However, the study authors argued that the skilled craftsmen who made the beads back then were probably more skilled than modern-day archaeologists. With experience, they estimated a single bead would have been made in around 11 minutes by an artisan.

It is believed by archaeologists that it would have taken a considerable period of time and a lot of work to create the hundreds of thousands of beads found in the Montelirio tomb, similar to the effort required to construct a large scale monument like Stonehenge, as stated by García Sanjuán.

"That means this society had the resources available to it to divert people away from growing food and instead use them on this project," he explained.

These women were of significant social importance, which is why such effort and resources were invested in them. Furthermore, they were able to bring these exorbitantly expensive garments with them to their graves.

Andrew Jones, a professor of archaeology and classical studies at the University of Stockholm, who was not involved in the research, described the site as "extremely significant" and agreed that the bead collection represented the largest documented cache from prehistoric times.

We do observe a relatively equal treatment of men and women during the Neolithic and Copper Ages in Europe, but this burial site stands out for its extraordinary treatment of women," Jones said via email. "There was clearly a distinction in the way men and women were honored in burial, but it's difficult to say whether this disparity is reflected in the social hierarchy.

He said he wanted to see if the people living in Valencina were in a women-led society back then, when more complex societies were starting to form in Europe.

“Matriarchy has been a contentious topic in historical and anthropological studies, and I'm eager to delve into it further, because I believe it's not coincidental that we're seeing repeated instances of prominent, highly influential women during this specific time period, roughly between 2900 and 2600 BC.”

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