Archeological Find Of An Etruscan ‘Warrior Prince’ Tomb.
In September 2013, archeologists announced the discovery of a completely sealed tomb in the rocks of Tuscany, Italy, which was presumed to belong to an ancient Etruscan warrior Prince. The corpse was found holding a spear along with the remaining ashes of what seem to have been his wife, judging by some jewelry items on it that typically would belong to a woman. They estimated that the tomb was about 2600 year-old. However, further analysis of the skeleton and bone DNA revealed the case to be opposite; the warrior was a female and the ashes next to it most likely belonged to the husband- the ashes’s DNA was of a male. The error was made by mere assumption to which…show more content… Little is known for certain about the Etruscans, for they left no historical documentation of their civilization or their culture, and most the related archeological finds have been difficult to decode. Nevertheless, it is known they were skilled metalworkers, artists, and architects, from whom the Romans later learned the art of arches and vaults. It is also well known that the liberties and equalities Etruscan women enjoyed in their civilization were unparalleled with their better-known counterparts, the Greeks and the Romans. Etruscan women enjoyed a big status in society and played important roles in public life. They actively participated in politics, sporting events, attended dramatic performances, and athletic competitions, and it is said that they danced in ways that shocked Greeks and Romans alike. Etruscan husbands and wives shared with each other time and meals, and after death, the devoted couples were buried together in the same tomb. Etruscan families commonly traced their family descent through the female, unlike specially the Romans to whom the family was centered on the patria potesta or “power of…show more content… Was not Joan of Arc burned at the stake for her warrior abilities and skills, even after her battles leadership were decisive for France victories during the long 100 years wars? Was not the poet and writer Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz a remarkably famous and controversial intellectual of the seventeenth century, who then was forced to commit to a Mexican covent for her unwillingness to ditch her literary works for a conventional marriage? Whas not the great Queen Elizabeth of England the one responsible for bringing prosperity and glory to Britain and the United Kingdom under her reign? And in science, was not Marie Curie, a brilliant Polish- French physicist-chemist, the first woman ever to win a Nobel Price? Who could forget then deaf-mute Hellen Keller who rose to become a proficient writer and speaker who strongly supported social equality. Not much later, came along Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Margaret Tatcher, first female astronaut Valentina Tereshkova, and more recently women’s rights advocate Pakistani Malala Yousafzai, just to mention a
