Archaeologists Found an Ancient Tomb Filled With the World’s Largest Collection of Beads

As you read this story, you will learn the following:

Researchers have discovered more than 270,000 beads in a tomb in Spain, possibly the largest collection ever.
The beads are made from shells, stones and animal bones, and would take several months to produce in such large quantities.
Experts believe beaded textiles may have been a symbol of social status.

Beads can be used for much more than just friendship bracelets. trade, decoration, record history——Everything you can think of, our ancestors probably made it with beads. There is another study in diary scientific progress Researchers may have discovered the largest collection of beads ever discovered. Researchers discovered as many as 270,769 such items from the Tolos de Montelirio cemetery, which is part of the Valencina archaeological site in southwestern Spain.

Most of the beads were found in a large cave and were worn by mostly female skeletons, estimated to be between 18 and 34 years old at the time of death. Researchers also found another 2,000 beads scattered in a corridor leading to another room, and a further 90 beads (along with a dagger) were found in the upper level of the second room.

The nearly 5,000-year-old tomb, known as the “Ivory Lady” tomb, was first discovered between 2010 and 2011, and experts have been poring over the massive collection for the past five years. But even preparing the collection for further study is not something for the faint of heart—it took a team of seven people 651 hours to completely remove all dirt and debris from the Cheerio-shaped disc.

In the study, the researchers concluded that the beads were made from three different materials: marine shells, animal bones, and stones. Those items made from shells (mainly scallops) are the richest in the collection. As for the rock beads, the diversity of the samples suggests they were collected by accident rather than intentionally sought out. But no matter what the material is, the production process is very delicate.

“Ten people working eight hours a day took 206 days (nearly seven months) to produce the entire component, using slightly less than a ton of ocean shells in the process,” the paper reads. “Obviously, the labor value of beaded clothing is high.”

Marta Díaz-Guardamino, another researcher on the study, compared the effort required to create clothing to modern fashion.

“I think the effort required to produce these beaded gowns far exceeds the effort required to produce couture red carpet garments today,” she Tell CNN. “You need more time and more people to produce the beads. In fact, it will be a completely different scale of business, there is nothing like it in the world.”

In addition to a few scattered beads, scientists found the objects arranged in three main ways: tunic, skirt and undetermined shape. Studies have shown that the sophistication of the clothing each woman was buried in could indicate her status. For example, researchers describe individual UE343 (a female aged 24 to 32 years at the time of death) as “a very special person” because she wore a beaded tunic and was placed in a prominent position in the tomb.

“These women may have held religious and political leadership roles in their time,” said Samuel Ramírez-Cruzado, one of the researchers involved in the study. life science“to manage a prestigious sanctuary surrounded by important gatherings of great social significance.”

Going forward, Leonardo García Sanjuán, the study’s lead researcher, said he would like to investigate whether the Valencina society where all these beautiful beads were made was matriarchal.

“Matriarchy has been a very controversial concept in history and anthropology,” García Sanjuan told us CNN”, “But I’m now very keen to address this head-on because I think it’s no accident that we see these cases over and over again at this time, you know, between 2900 and 2600 B.C., with all these great, very high-status, powerful women. “