Recent Discovery of Possible Iron Age Woman Warrior in Bryher Grave

 In a previous post, I discussed the discovery that the remains of a warrior buried in Birka, Sweden actually belonged to a woman.  The Viking grave dated back to the 10th century and was originally excavated in 1878.  Scientists believed the individual was a male due to the array of weapons included in the grave.....at least until 2017 when researchers reanalyzed the remains and determined that the individual was actually a woman.

 

A few days ago, a scholarly article revealed that yet another set of ancient remains interred with weapons have proven to be those of a  woman.  These are much older than those found in Birka, dating back to the Iron Age, and were discovered in southwestern England.  

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X23002742

Excavated in 1999, the Bryher grave consisted of multiple items including a sword and shield, which initially led scientists to believe that the individual was a man.  Interestingly, this is the only grave in the area containing martial items.  There was also a mirror which scientists say were used in rituals and a means for communication.  It had bore a sun-disc motif and is not only the sole British mirror to bear this symbol, it is also the only Iron Age artifact to contain this design.  Another characteristic of mirrors is that they are items particular to graves containing women, not men.  This presents a confusing dichotomy.   A mystery was afoot.  The scientists hypothesized that perhaps the grave held the remains of two people.  But their findings showed that the bones belonged to a single individual.   They also discussed the reasons male grave goods were interred with a woman.  One of their possible explanations was that she "may have had a leading role organising / participating in raiding-type warfare."  Unfortunately, we won't know for sure because there just isn't enough of the remains available to be able to paint a clearer picture of the social role of this woman who died in her twenties.

Sword and mirror from the Bryher grave
Historic England Archive

 

 

Of course, the question always arises as to how many more women warriors are out there waiting to be discovered, either from ancient times, during the Civil War, or other historical time periods.