A new survey of remains line up at Stonehenge suggests that women ’s and men ’s roles in ancient Britain might not have been as freestanding as we think , peculiarly among their bon ton ’s elite group .
The finding were recently reported in the March / April 2016 edition ofBritish Archaeologymagazine , although the dig take on place back in 2008 .
During the shot , the researchers sift through 45 kilogram ( 99 pounds ) of cremated bone fragment . To the archaeologist ' surprisal , they discovered that the corpse contained 14 females and just nine males .
The researchers identify the gender of the remains by perform CT scan on thepetrous bone , set up at the substructure of the skull near the inner capitulum . pernicious differences in this tough pearl can be used to name a skeleton ’s gender , as it ’s so dense it incline to remain intact even after ancient cremation processes .
Christie Willis , a Ph.D. student at University College London who make for on the project , toldWestern Daily Pressthatthis designate a “ surprising degree of gender equation . ”
There ’s a stand hypothesis that the iconic website in Wiltshire , England , functioned asa ritual interment sitefor the elites at some point between 3100 BCE and 2140 BCE . The determination of male and females together in this plaza assist to cement the idea that woman – or at least a secure proportion of the elect womanhood – were consider equal in social position with their manly opposite number .
Mike Pitts , editor program of British Archaeology , toldDiscovery News : “ Anyone buried at Stonehenge is potential to have been special in some agency : high status families , possessors of special skill or knowledge , ritual or political leaders .
“ In almost every delineation of Stonehenge by artists and TV re - enactors we see good deal of valet de chambre , a man in charge , and few or no women , ” he append . “ The archaeology now render that as far as the burying go , women were as large there as men . ”
