A Bronze-Age female skeleton was unearthed in Mikulovice, near Pardubice, Czech Republic. According to radiocarbon dating of the cemetery where her bones were discovered, the woman lived between 1880 B.C. and 1750 B.C. In the northern Czech Republic, close to the village of Mikulovice, is where the cemetery is located. Because they once made up a monarchy by the same name before World War I, this region and the neighboring areas are collectively referred to as Bohemia. An amazing collection of antiquities, including around 900 pieces of amber, were found in the cemetery’s 27 tombs.
Archaeologist Michal Ernée, of the Institute of Archeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, claimed that although it’s unknown who the woman was, she was extremely affluent.
About the Bronze-Age Find
The fact that the ambers most likely originated in the Baltic suggests that the Únětice people were a part of a vast European commerce network at the time. Bronze artifacts are found throughout the continent, but the raw materials for bronze, tin, and copper came from only a few locations, Ernée continued, demonstrating the sophistication of the Bronze-Age era.
The skull of the woman wearing amber was the finest preserved of the skeletal remains discovered in the cemetery close to Mikulovice. Ernée said that it was a happy coincidence that the richest cemetery also had skeleton bones that may serve as the foundation for reconstruction.
It was also fortunate that the bones were still able to retain some of the woman’s DNA due to their excellent preservation. The researchers were able to determine that she had brown eyes, brown hair, and a pale complexion thanks to these genetic sequences. The torso-up model of the woman was created in collaboration by sculptor Ondej Blek and anthropologist Eva Vanková of the Moravian Museum in Brno.
Amber Necklace, Gold Earrings, and More!
Science was also used to reproduce the woman’s attire and accessories. Metalworker Radek Lukvka reconstructed the bronze bracelets and needles, while Kristna Urbanová, an archaeologist with a focus on textiles, created the woman’s attire. The amber necklace and gold earrings were made by Ludmila Baráková of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences.
Researchers are now attempting to determine the relationships between the people interred there after ancient DNA was recovered from additional grave bones, according to Ernée. The cemetery might potentially offer fresh information about regional variations in early Bronze-Age Central Europe. Ernée claimed that all of the wealthy tombs discovered in the nearby areas of Bohemia are men’s. It’s unclear, whether women had a different status in the area close to present-day Mikulovice. However, it’s also plausible that the ladies were buried with gold to flaunt the wealth of their male relatives. It’s possible that the women did individually manage more fortune than women in adjacent regions.