"As the many broken, battered bodies recovered from ancient burials can attest, the European Bronze Age was a tough time to be alive. Most historians and archaeologists have assumed these combative societies were led by men. But a new analysis of a richly adorned female ruler buried in a Bronze Age palace suggests women could also occupy the throne. There’s no way to know the true extent of her power, researchers note, but the find could lead others to reconsider their assumptions about the status of women throughout prehistory.

“The idea that Bronze Age women may have held status and power in their own right has been around for some time,” says archaeologist Samantha Scott Reiter at the National Museum of Denmark, who wasn’t involved in the study. “It is only recently—with articles such as this one—that the discipline seems to be giving female power more serious academic consideration.”

"In a new paper, archaeologists report on a tomb uncovered in 2014 by Spanish researchers at a site known as La Almoloya. Here, ruins of a once-elaborate palacelike structure dominate a rocky hilltop overlooking the plains. The site was once part of the El Argar society, which thrived and controlled territories along the southeastern Iberian Peninsula from about 2200 to 1550 B.C.E. Archaeologists found weaving tools and materials at the site, and concluded it was a major textile producer and probably a wealthy regional center of power, says archaeologist and study co-author Roberto Risch of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

"The tomb lay beneath the floor of a large room that lacked common items such as tools or drinking vessels, as well as ceremonial items that might have pointed to a religious function. Instead, the spartan room contained only stone benches along its walls, suggesting it may have been a place for deliberation and governance.

"Buried beneath the floor was an earthen jar containing the skeletons of a man and woman. Radiocarbon dating put their deaths sometime around 1650 B.C.E., and they died at or around the same time. The man was about 35 to 40 years old when he died, the woman was about 25 to 30. Researchers can’t be sure how they perished, as their skeletons show no obviously fatal injuries. Genetic analysis reveals the two weren’t related, but they had a daughter who died in infancy and was buried nearby.

"Archaeologists found the couple’s burial jar brimming with treasure. The man wore a copper bracelet and had golden earlobe plugs, but the woman was truly blinged out. She sported several silver bracelets and rings, a beaded necklace, and a spectacular silver diadem adorning her skull. This crownlike object is nearly identical to four others found on women buried at another El Argar site some 90 kilometers away, the researchers report today in the journal Antiquity.

"The couple’s valuable grave goods clearly indicate they were among La Almoloya’s elite, the authors note. And the woman’s ornaments suggest she was the more powerful of the duo, perhaps a regional ruler in El Argar society."

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/blinged-out-female-ruler-may-be-evidence-powerful-women-during-bronze-age?fbclid=IwAR1XwzJpg9Elp7xIZ3dwFGW1KQmr829Sns_LGtsfbyX5fZmLYNkDXXAE4Dc

So, I think women did have social and political power in these bronze age Iberian societies, but they were not peaceful nor what I would call matriarchal. But they had female sphere of power, especially as priestesses or wisewomen, as indicated by a strong pattern of female diadems in the archaeological record.

These begin on megalithic statues (often called statue-menhirs), which overwhelming represent women in the neolithic period. Necklaces are a female marker on statue-menhirs in western Europe: France, Spain, Portugal, and the Alps from about 3000-2000 bce (while male statues wear a baldric, weapons, and sometimes axes). Spanish megalithic statues stand out for bearing diadems in addition to multiple ropes of necklaces. For example, these statue-menhirs from Cáceres, in western Spain:

Here's another example from the great megalithic mound at Jerez de los Caballeros, known as the stela of Granja del Toriñuelo. Here, already in the 3rd millennium bce, the in-the-round megaliths become more flattened; instead of sculptures or even reliefs, they are in the process of morphing into stelae, with stick-figures engraved on the stone. Looks to me like the ancestral woman is central to these funerary sanctuaries. She has the heavy layered necklaces that we see also in the French megaliths, especially in southern France, in the late neolithic and early bronze age.

I'll go into the megalithic statues in another section. Right now we're pursuing the motif of women with diadems, and sometimes necklaces too. It continues into the Iron Age, up to about 1000-800 bce, now engraved on stone stelae. Some of which are still thick, like the one shown below, from Almaden de la Plata. The women wear wide crowns interspersed with lines (to be explained in a moment). Notice that each diadem is tapered, one side narrowing and the other wide at the end.

Here's a drawing of the same stone, showing that a horned male figure stands beside the crowned woman, and he has a sword and shield. Weapons are everywhere in this Iron Age period.

There are quite a lot of these, to the point that there is a name for them: las diademadas, "women with diadems." Sometimes the male warrior is on the back. There are chariots, a prestige item throughout the Mediterranean in this period, and for some time: Greeks, Etruscans, Libyans.

This diademada comes from Capilla in Extremadura, on a flat stone which was scraped or perhaps split to make an even flatter surface for the engraving. The stick figure bears dots to indicate breasts, and a big necklace, but it is the diadem that dominates the image. This time not tapered, but those loops at the ends will figure in, further along.

Below is another one, from Belalcazar, showing again the breasts marked by dots along her torso, and a huge diadem.

OK, so here's the amazing part. The many Spanish stones engraved with diademadas have actual counterparts in France from the same period (circa 900 bce) in France. You old-timer students will remember this bronze diadem found in a rich female burial (tomb 101) of the La Colombine necropolis at Champlay, Yonne, in north-central France:

And this find is a diadem made out of a boar tusk, wrapped with bronze wire, which was fastened to the woman's head by the loops at the ends. Which are depicted on many of the diademada stelae! which have the same rectangular facets in curved rows, and are often topped by circular or rectangular ornamentation (shown as dots on most of the stones, but here as spirals made out of coiled bronze wire.

The tusk base of the diadem explains why so many of the Spanish stelae are tapered, as pointed out earlier. It was deliberate, not a mistake, depicting the actual form of the diadem. And this actual specimen of a woman's headdress is not a one-off, because another was found in a contemporary female burial at Les Grèves, Barbuise-Courtavant, Aube (below). This one has the end loops, but not the spiral decorations.

So we have depictions in stone from Spain, but no surviving artifacts of the diadems; while in France, archaeologists have found two actual diadems, but they do not appear in other art from that period. In a couple more centuries, we come into early Gaulish times, where there are other burials of powerful elite women. Most famously the Lady of Vix in Bourgogne, with her solid gold torc and a lot of other bling, and the largest Greek krater ever found.

I found one more example of the boar-tusk diadem with bronze wire spirals, this time found in a grave pit at Karlsruhe Neureut, Baden-Württemberg, near Stuttgart in the Rhineland, SW Germany.

All right. Now that I've gotten that diadem connection out of my system, here are some photo essays from a long-ago course, illustrating the statue menhirs and las diademadas. Follow the link at lower right of this first page to move to the second, where the first drawing shows the loops quite clearly, and the ornamentation atop the diadem.

Here are more, showing megalithic statues topped with headdresses (it's mistitled diademadas).

Map of distribution of diademada and warrior stelae, with more pictures.

On this one, you can see the womb-patterns I was talking about (scroll down a bit).

More here: a woman between two warriors (captive, or are those her attendants?) And an interesting megalith from the very early bronze age, with engravings added in the iron age.

Or the chieftainess of Reinheim, Germany, also wearing a gold torc and armbands, along with amber necklaces, some gilt drinking horns, and a bronze mirror crafted by a Germanic artisan. Also a very large bronze ewer (drinking and feasting were big elite occasions). But apparently no diadem.

The gold armbands! which to my eye have breast motifs in the headdress of the figures.

Another view of the breasts, if that's what they are, on the headdress of the figure, who seems to be holding snakes. This site dates to about 400 bce, so quite a bit later than the diademadas.

This one is very similar, but after close comparison, i think it is a different piece.

More detail on La Almoloya chieftainess, from a better source:

"Emblems and spaces of power during the Argaric Bronze Age at La Almoloya, Murcia." Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 March 2021

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/emblems-and-spaces-of-power-during-the-argaric-bronze-age-at-la-almoloya-murcia/B27A3C7AD23625DD39C6D4F2C3981C2F

"The Early Bronze Age El Argar society flourished between c. 2200 and 1550 cal BC in the south-east of Iberia (Siret & Siret 1887; Lull 1983; Lull et al. 2011). This society is characterised by a complex settlement system, featuring urban centres with monumental structures, a developed division of labour, intramural burials with marked asymmetries in funerary expenditure between individuals, political boundaries and institutionalised violence—all in the context of a class-based state society ...

"A particular question about El Argar society, raised by the exclusive presence of certain objects of social value in female graves, concerns the potentially prominent political role and status of women. This possibility is further supported by the recognition, in the funerary ritual, of adulthood at a younger age for girls compared with boys, and by the interment of some elite warriors of the middle Argar phase (c. 2000–1800 cal BC) in graves where a woman had been previously buried (Lull et al. 2016, 2017).

"Metal diadems appear in the archaeological record of the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age (from the mid to late third millennium cal BC). Such objects, however, are very rare and contextual data are poor. The oldest examples were made of long, plain (undecorated) golden sheets with distal perforations for their attachment to the head (Perea 1991). These objects are often interpreted as symbols of rank, worn by ‘leaders’ or ‘chiefs’ with military power (Garrido 2014). This interpretation stems from their presence in individual—or presumably individual—tombs (e.g. at Fuente Olmedo, Montilla, Quinta da Agua Branca), along with weapons and other distinctive objects linked with the Bell Beaker complex.

"When compared with other earlier and contemporaneous examples from Iberia, diadems display distinctive forms and meanings in Argaric society. First, they are made from native silver, with just a single known gold example. There are two varieties: simple headbands and semi-circular rods with a disc-shaped appendix. The latter is unique to the Argaric material repertoire. To date, only six such diadems have been reported. Four were found in 1883 and 1884 by the brothers Henri and Louis Siret and their foreman Pedro Flores at the eponymous site of El Argar (Almería) (Figure 1). The diadems were found either in single (El Argar graves 51, 396 & 454) or double (grave 62) burials (pithoi).

NOW comes the key, and i'll post more below about the female context of diadems in megalithic culture and later in the Iron Age of Spain: "Where osteological information about the burials is available, *diadems were found to be associated with females.* This was also the case with the headbands, which were discovered at the sites of Gatas (grave 2), El Oficio (grave 6) and Fuente Álamo (grave 9) (Siret & Siret 1887). Furthermore, diadems were always found in association with a larger variety of grave goods, including necklaces, silver and copper ornaments, knives, awls and pottery.

"As a result, the Sirets claimed that the women buried with diadems were “souveraines ou femmes de chefs” (“sovereigns or wives of chiefs”; Siret & Siret 1887: 163). The authors sometimes referred to the headbands as ‘couronnes’ (‘crowns’), in reference to a typical emblem of kingship. Almost a century later, statistical analysis carried out by Lull and Estévez (1986) provided support for this interpretation by including diadems in the ‘category 1’ of Argaric grave goods—those associated with the ruling class. A fifth diadem came to light around 1923, probably originating from a tomb in Cerro de la Plaza de Armas, in Murcia (Melgares 1983). This diadem differs from the others in that it is made of gold and features a linear embossed pattern of small dots along its entire perimeter, extending onto the disc-shaped appendix."

Shown below, other diadems found in female graves, adhering closely to the same pattern: Silver diadems and other grave goods from El Argar, in Siret and Siret 1887, plates 43-45 

The Cambridge U article says "little time had elapsed between the two burials. Indeed, the radiocarbon dates for the two individuals are statistically indistinguishable (Table 1), suggesting that both probably died in the mid seventeenth century BC, at the peak of Argaric development.

...

"The morphological similarities between the five silver disc diadems from El Argar and La Almoloya are astonishing. Despite deformation or loss of material, the dimensions of the disc, the width of the stem between the disc and the belt, and the maximum height of the object are remarkably uniform.

"The silver diadem stands out among the numerous grave goods found in grave 38 (see Table S1 in the online supplementary material (OSM); Figures 5–6), many of which are also made from precious metals, such as the four earlobe tunnel-plugs. Two of these plugs were made of silver and were placed on each side of the woman's skull. The plug found on the left side is unusually large, and features a large silver spiral passing through it (Figure 5.30; Table S1: 30). The right earplug is slightly smaller, and also features a silver spiral (Table S1: 48). The other two earplugs are even smaller, and are made of gold (Table S1: 63–64; Figure 7). Both are decorated with embossed small dots around their flaring ends, and a silver spiral was strung through one of the two earplugs (Table S1: 62).

"Earplugs, whether made of gold or silver, are rare in Argaric assemblages. A few examples come from rich tombs, such as El Argar grave 454, which also yielded a diadem. These tombs were almost certainly related to the ruling class. As with diadems, the transformation of an individual's physical appearance afforded by earplugs must have been truly striking. A few similar earplugs have also been recorded outside the Argaric territory (Pingel 1992; Cabezas 2015; Daura et al. 2017). A further set of six, silver, spiral objects was also found in grave 38. Their size and location suggest that they were used as hair ties or as parts of a headdress. Three may have fastened the male's braids (Table S1: 47, 84 & 100), echoing the hairstyle recorded in Castellón Alto grave 121 (Molina et al. 2003). The other three (Table S1: 49.1, 49.2 & 59) are more clearly related to the woman's headdress, as they were found between the left side of her skull and the wall of the urn.

"Also found in grave 38 were three bracelets, two of them—both made of silver (Table S1: 22.1 & 22.2)—in situ around the female's left distal humerus, while the third, a copper-based bracelet (Table S1: 60), was found on the male's right wrist. In the latter case, corrosion preserved a small linen braid and a cloth fragment that might have formed part of another arm ornament and a sleeve, respectively (Table S1: 61). Two silver rings of almost identical size were also found, one still in place around the fourth finger of the female's left hand (Table S1: 21), the other next to the male's second lumbar vertebra (Table S1: 82).

"Forty-six beads from two different necklaces were recovered from the burial. The necklace associated with the male comprised seven large beads of different colours. The necklace associated with the female had a minimum of 39 beads, and was probably layered, as the four silver, perforated plate fragments found close by may have acted as spacer clasps."

Below, treasure from La Almoloya, with most of the silver belonging to the woman and the gold ear hoops to the man. She also had a large ear hoop.

"La Almoloya grave 38 is one of the most lavish burials of the European Early Bronze Age. Nevertheless, the uniqueness and, at the same time, distinctiveness of this tomb lies not only in its contents, but also in the building within which it was placed. The tomb was found in the south-western corner of a large and partially subterranean room. The room had a slightly trapezoidal plan extending over 130m2 and with two functional spaces of 70m2 (H9) and approximately 13m2 (H8), respectively, with their floors set at different levels (Figure 10). The room of which H8 and H9 formed part was located within ‘housing complex 1’ (Figure 10). This 266m2 compound is located in the southern sector of La Almoloya and seems, at least in part, to have supported a second storey.

"Although the findings are still under study, evidence for large-scale grain storage and grinding, as well as other production and consumption activities, has been documented. The upstairs space above H8–9 and H10 housed a minimum of 24 grinding tools, a large quantity of ceramic vessels of different types, as well as hammer stones, abraders and unworked volcanic blocks for the production of further grinding tools. H10 and H11 also featured a range of forging and sharpening metal tools, stone axeheads, tools for textile production, and stone artefacts used in the processing of beeswax and honey (Ache et al. 2017). The number and variety of production processes attested significantly exceeds what might usually be expected in Bronze Age domestic contexts.

"The stone walls of room H9 were plastered with a clay-and-lime mortar, which was also applied to the floor. A row of seven large posts was set across the room's central axis. These supported the roof, together with another 14 smaller posts that were either adjacent to or embedded in the perimeter walls. A continuous 0.33m-high bench was attached to the base of three of the walls, while on the western wall, this bench was raised to 0.62m in height. The perimeter benches were only interrupted by a stepped structure and by a 0.82m-high podium, at the base of which was a large hearth.

"The general lack of artefacts on the floor of H9, combined with the structural prominence of the benches, indicate that social gatherings of up to 50 individuals could be held in this large room. We can only speculate as to whether such meetings were intended for discussion and participation in shared decision-making or, rather, for the transmission of orders within a hierarchical chain of command. That the grave offerings of grave 38 far exceed those from any other contemporaneous tomb in La Almoloya, and in many other sites, suggests the second option.

"Conventionally, housing complex 1 would fall into the category of ‘palace’, as it combines within a single building residential, economic and political functions on a supra-domestic scale (de Miroschedji 2015). Moreover, H9 could be referred to as a ‘parliament’ and the presence of emblematic objects, such as the diadems at El Argar and La Almoloya, could represent the political unity among the core regions of Argaric territory during the seventeenth century BC. Either way, the building complex was destroyed by fire shortly after the second burial was interred in grave 38.

...

"The Early Bronze Age El Argar society flourished between c. 2200 and 1550 cal[ibrated radiocarbon date] BC in the south-east of Iberia (Siret & Siret 1887; Lull 1983; Lull et al. 2011). This society is characterised by a complex settlement system, featuring urban centres with monumental structures, a developed division of labour, intramural burials with marked asymmetries in funerary expenditure between individuals, political boundaries and institutionalised violence—all in the context of a class-based state society ...

"A particular question about El Argar society, raised by the exclusive presence of certain objects of social value in female graves, concerns the potentially prominent political role and status of women. This possibility is further supported by the recognition, in the funerary ritual, of adulthood at a younger age for girls compared with boys, and by the interment of some elite warriors of the middle Argar phase (c. 2000–1800 cal BC) in graves where a woman had been previously buried (Lull et al. 2016, 2017).

"Metal diadems appear in the archaeological record of the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age (from the mid to late third millennium cal BC). Such objects, however, are very rare and contextual data are poor. The oldest examples were made of long, plain (undecorated) golden sheets with distal perforations for their attachment to the head (Perea 1991). These objects are often interpreted as symbols of rank, worn by ‘leaders’ or ‘chiefs’ with military power (Garrido 2014). This interpretation stems from their presence in individual—or presumably individual—tombs (e.g. at Fuente Olmedo, Montilla, Quinta da Agua Branca), along with weapons and other distinctive objects linked with the Bell Beaker complex.

"When compared with other earlier and contemporaneous examples from Iberia, diadems display distinctive forms and meanings in Argaric society. First, they are made from native silver, with just a single known gold example. There are two varieties: simple headbands and semi-circular rods with a disc-shaped appendix. The latter is unique to the Argaric material repertoire. To date, only six such diadems have been reported. Four were found in 1883 and 1884 by the brothers Henri and Louis Siret and their foreman Pedro Flores at the eponymous site of El Argar (Almería) (Figure 1). The diadems were found either in single (El Argar graves 51, 396 & 454) or double (grave 62) burials (pithoi).

NOW comes the key, and i'll post more below about the female context of diadems in megalithic culture and later in the Iron Age of Spain: "Where osteological information about the burials is available, diadems were found to be associated with females. This was also the case with the headbands, which were discovered at the sites of Gatas (grave 2), El Oficio (grave 6) and Fuente Álamo (grave 9) (Siret & Siret 1887). Furthermore, diadems were always found in association with a larger variety of grave goods, including necklaces, silver and copper ornaments, knives, awls and pottery.

"As a result, the Sirets claimed that the women buried with diadems were “souveraines ou femmes de chefs” (“sovereigns or wives of chiefs”; Siret & Siret 1887: 163). The authors sometimes referred to the headbands as ‘couronnes’ (‘crowns’), in reference to a typical emblem of kingship. Almost a century later, statistical analysis carried out by Lull and Estévez (1986) provided support for this interpretation by including diadems in the ‘category 1’ of Argaric grave goods—those associated with the ruling class. A fifth diadem came to light around 1923, probably originating from a tomb in Cerro de la Plaza de Armas, in Murcia (Melgares 1983). This diadem differs from the others in that it is made of gold and features a linear embossed pattern of small dots along its entire perimeter, extending onto the disc-shaped appendix.

"his Cambridge U article says "little time had elapsed between the two burials. Indeed, the radiocarbon dates for the two individuals are statistically indistinguishable (Table 1), suggesting that both probably died in the mid seventeenth century BC, at the peak of Argaric development.

...

"The morphological similarities between the five silver disc diadems from El Argar and La Almoloya are astonishing. Despite deformation or loss of material, the dimensions of the disc, the width of the stem between the disc and the belt, and the maximum height of the object are remarkably uniform.

"The silver diadem stands out among the numerous grave goods found in grave 38 (see Table S1 in the online supplementary material (OSM); Figures 5–6), many of which are also made from precious metals, such as the four earlobe tunnel-plugs. Two of these plugs were made of silver and were placed on each side of the woman's skull. The plug found on the left side is unusually large, and features a large silver spiral passing through it (Figure 5.30; Table S1: 30). The right earplug is slightly smaller, and also features a silver spiral (Table S1: 48). The other two earplugs are even smaller, and are made of gold (Table S1: 63–64; Figure 7). Both are decorated with embossed small dots around their flaring ends, and a silver spiral was strung through one of the two earplugs (Table S1: 62).

"Earplugs, whether made of gold or silver, are rare in Argaric assemblages. A few examples come from rich tombs, such as El Argar grave 454, which also yielded a diadem. These tombs were almost certainly related to the ruling class. As with diadems, the transformation of an individual's physical appearance afforded by earplugs must have been truly striking. A few similar earplugs have also been recorded outside the Argaric territory (Pingel 1992; Cabezas 2015; Daura et al. 2017). A further set of six, silver, spiral objects was also found in grave 38. Their size and location suggest that they were used as hair ties or as parts of a headdress. Three may have fastened the male's braids (Table S1: 47, 84 & 100), echoing the hairstyle recorded in Castellón Alto grave 121 (Molina et al. 2003). The other three (Table S1: 49.1, 49.2 & 59) are more clearly related to the woman's headdress, as they were found between the left side of her skull and the wall of the urn.

"Also found in grave 38 were three bracelets, two of them—both made of silver (Table S1: 22.1 & 22.2)—in situ around the female's left distal humerus, while the third, a copper-based bracelet (Table S1: 60), was found on the male's right wrist. In the latter case, corrosion preserved a small linen braid and a cloth fragment that might have formed part of another arm ornament and a sleeve, respectively (Table S1: 61). Two silver rings of almost identical size were also found, one still in place around the fourth finger of the female's left hand (Table S1: 21), the other next to the male's second lumbar vertebra (Table S1: 82).

"Forty-six beads from two different necklaces were recovered from the burial. The necklace associated with the male comprised seven large beads of different colours. The necklace associated with the female had a minimum of 39 beads, and was probably layered, as the four silver, perforated plate fragments found close by may have acted as spacer clasps.

""La Almoloya grave 38 is one of the most lavish burials of the European Early Bronze Age. Nevertheless, the uniqueness and, at the same time, distinctiveness of this tomb lies not only in its contents, but also in the building within which it was placed. The tomb was found in the south-western corner of a large and partially subterranean room. The room had a slightly trapezoidal plan extending over 130m2 and with two functional spaces of 70m2 (H9) and approximately 13m2 (H8), respectively, with their floors set at different levels (Figure 10). The room of which H8 and H9 formed part was located within ‘housing complex 1’ (Figure 10). This 266m2 compound is located in the southern sector of La Almoloya and seems, at least in part, to have supported a second storey.

"Although the findings are still under study, evidence for large-scale grain storage and grinding, as well as other production and consumption activities, has been documented. The upstairs space above H8–9 and H10 housed a minimum of 24 grinding tools, a large quantity of ceramic vessels of different types, as well as hammer stones, abraders and unworked volcanic blocks for the production of further grinding tools. H10 and H11 also featured a range of forging and sharpening metal tools, stone axeheads, tools for textile production, and stone artefacts used in the processing of beeswax and honey (Ache et al. 2017). The number and variety of production processes attested significantly exceeds what might usually be expected in Bronze Age domestic contexts.

"The stone walls of room H9 were plastered with a clay-and-lime mortar, which was also applied to the floor. A row of seven large posts was set across the room's central axis. These supported the roof, together with another 14 smaller posts that were either adjacent to or embedded in the perimeter walls. A continuous 0.33m-high bench was attached to the base of three of the walls, while on the western wall, this bench was raised to 0.62m in height. The perimeter benches were only interrupted by a stepped structure and by a 0.82m-high podium, at the base of which was a large hearth.

"The general lack of artefacts on the floor of H9, combined with the structural prominence of the benches, indicate that social gatherings of up to 50 individuals could be held in this large room. We can only speculate as to whether such meetings were intended for discussion and participation in shared decision-making or, rather, for the transmission of orders within a hierarchical chain of command. That the grave offerings of grave 38 far exceed those from any other contemporaneous tomb in La Almoloya, and in many other sites, suggests the second option.

"Conventionally, housing complex 1 would fall into the category of ‘palace’, as it combines within a single building residential, economic and political functions on a supra-domestic scale (de Miroschedji 2015). Moreover, H9 could be referred to as a ‘parliament’ and the presence of emblematic objects, such as the diadems at El Argar and La Almoloya, could represent the political unity among the core regions of Argaric territory during the seventeenth century BC. Either way, the building complex was destroyed by fire shortly after the second burial was interred in grave 38."

In Argaric society, at the time that elite women were buried with diadems, elite men were preferentially buried with a sword and a dagger. These men were buried with fewer personal ornaments than females of the same class, and in no case did these male-associated objects have an emblematic character. As such weapons were the most effective means of enforcing political decisions, certain men would have played an executive role, even though ideological legitimation as well as—perhaps—the government, lay in certain female hands. The La Almoloya discoveries have revealed unexpected political dimensions of the highly stratified El Argar society, showing features that are unique in the contemporaneous Western Mediterranean and continental Europe."

Another article, less academic, takes apart the assumptions laid on women's burials, in this case that she was a wife to a powerful man:

"Archaeologists in Spain have discovered "one of the most lavish burials of the European early Bronze Age": the grave of an elite woman wearing a silver diadem in what might be one of Western Europe's first palaces. She might even have been a queen of sorts who ruled over the realm."

'Powerful, maybe even frightening' woman with diadem may have ruled in Bronze Age Spain. " Laura Geggel This is only the sixth known diadem from ancient Spain.

https://www.livescience.com/diadem-bronze-age-burial-spain.html?fbclid=IwAR1ZV5vX-WZ0iMNEP7_Q_F7axs_7tBOss-RhW1w3qjwEeH_w67YOOI61ZqQ

"The woman's remains were buried next to a man who was slightly older and died a few years earlier, the researchers found. But the man had far fewer and inferior goods in his grave, raising questions about which individual had more power and whether she was a ruler, according to the study, which was published online Thursday (March 11) in the journal Antiquity.

"When interpreting such a burial, it's important to have an open mind about the past, said study co-researcher Roberto Risch, a professor of archaeology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. "Traditionally, in a very male-dominated academia, you would say, 'Oh, she is the partner of him. He was the big guy — he is a little bit older, and if she is the partner, she is just a beautiful woman and she gets a lot of ornaments," Risch told Live Science.

"But given that she outlived the man and still received more opulent goods, it's likely that the woman had power of her own, Risch said. "What she is wearing — it's not because of him, because she is alone," Risch said. "There is no more him around. He died before."

[So she ruled in her own right, which becomes clear only if the articles, like this one, actually disclose information about the full context. ]

"Archaeologists have known about this site — known as La Almoloya, in the southeastern region of Murcia, Spain — since the 1800s, when Belgian mining engineers discovered the ruins of a Bronze Age society there. This economically tiered society, known as El Argar (2200 B.C. to 1550 B.C.), was complex; the Argaric people built monumental structures, grew and processed cereals such as barley and wheat, kept domesticated animals, traded with faraway cultures and practiced metallurgy, according to a 2020 study published in the journal PLOS One."

The article shows that the woman had a daughter by the man (and the Cambridge article adds that the girl died and was buried under a house, a common pattern in the neolithic.

"Archaeologists have known about this site — known as La Almoloya, in the southeastern region of Murcia, Spain — since the 1800s, when Belgian mining engineers discovered the ruins of a Bronze Age society there. This economically tiered society, known as El Argar (2200 B.C. to 1550 B.C.), was complex; the Argaric people built monumental structures, grew and processed cereals such as barley and wheat, kept domesticated animals, traded with faraway cultures and practiced metallurgy, according to a 2020 study published in the journal PLOS One.

"Of the 29 treasures found in the burial, the silver diadem is the most valuable; it's one of only six ever found from Bronze Age Spain. Diadems are often interpreted as symbols of rank that were worn by leaders, the researchers wrote in the study. This particular type of diadem — with a flat, mushroom-like circle on the front — could be worn facing upward or downward. (Archaeologists have found it both ways in burials.)

"The silver diadem is now corroded, but "to have a woman looking at your eyes with a shiny mirror that looks into you … She must have been quite somebody," Risch said. "The look of this woman must have been very powerful, maybe even frightening."

"This diadem likely signified that the woman was part of the dominant ruling class, just like crowns found in other Bronze Age societies, including the Wessex culture in what is now the southern U.K. and the Únětice culture in what is now Central Europe, Rihuete Herrada said.

"Moreover, other burials from the El Argar culture show that upper-class women were often buried with posh, gender-specific goods, often starting at about age 6, while men weren't given this honor until about age 12, Rihuete Herrada told Live Science. This suggests that "girls would acquire this gender status earlier than boys," she said. "But it's an ongoing question of what gender meant in the El Argar society. In the case of this tomb, "we have class and gender working together," Rihuete Herrada said.

"So, were the woman's diadem and other treasures emblems of power, or merely burial ornaments? The researchers are leaning toward the former, they said. "In the Argaric society, women of the dominant classes were buried with diadems, while the men were buried with a sword and dagger. The funerary goods buried with these men were of lesser quantity and quality," they said in a statement. "As swords represent the most effective instrument for reinforcing political decisions, El Argar dominant men might have played an executive role" in maintaining order, but perhaps the women were the ones making the political decisions, they said."