14 DAY TRIAL // Some time ago, archaeologists carrying out excavations in Tuscany, Italy stumbled upon a 2,600-year-old tomb that appeared to have remained untouched over the centuries. They announced their findings last month, and said that the tomb contained the body of an Etruscan warrior prince and the cremated remains of his wife.
It turns out they were wrong, and that the body found inside this tomb actually belonged to a woman.
Live Science tells us that, at the time when the archaeologists who worked on this research project said that they had discovered the remains of an Etruscan warrior prince, they chiefly based their claim on the observation that the body inside this tomb held a spear.
They also jumped to this conclusion due to the fact that the body was placed on a platform slightly larger than the one holding the ashes of the second person who had been laid to rest in this location.
However, after having a closer look at these ancient human remains, the archaeologists realized that the anatomy of the jaw did not match that of a man, but that of a woman.
Hence their having to review their initial statements, and conclude that they had in fact discovered the remains of an Etruscan princess who was about 35-40 years old at the time when she passed away.
“The spear, most likely, was placed as a symbol of union between the two deceased,” archaeologist Alessandro Mandolesi with the University of Turin reportedly told the press.
However, it is also possible that the woman used to have a high social status, and that the spear was intended to symbolize her place in the Etruscan civilization.
The tomb in which these two bodies were found was cut into rock. Inside it, archaeologists also found several pieces of jewelry and a bronze-plated box.
Odds are that these artifacts belong to the women but, since Etruscan men also used to wear jewelry, it is possible that they belong to the person buried alongside the princess.