The concept of 'warrior women' has fascinated historians, archaeologists, and the wider public for a long time. Many examples of potential 'warrior women' from archaeological sites have been put forward over the years, in the form of women buried with weapons and/or armour. However, gender assignment is often difficult in archaeological contexts, as is determining the relationship between the individuals within graves and the goods buried with them, particularly when the remains are fragmentary. Where a person is buried with a single weapon or piece of armour this is as likely to be a talismanic object or mark of social status as it is an indicator of their ever having held a military role.
A number of female burials with weapons have been reported in Hungary's Carpathian Basin, dating from the Sarmatian Period (1st–5th centuries AD), the Gepid Period (second half of the 5th century–567 AD), the Langobard Period (510–568 AD), and the Avar Period (ca. 567–9th century AD). However, typically only a single arrowhead, small piece of chainmail, or similar isolated item has been found in the grave, which is significantly less than is found in male 'warrior burials' from the same cultures, making it unlikely that these represent female warriors.
The Maygars, or Hungarians, migrated from the steppes of Eurasia to the Lower Danube region around 830 AD, subsequently reaching the Carpathian Basin by the late nineth or early tenth century. They soon came to control the area, forming the Kingdom of Hungary at the end of the tenth century. During this time, Hungarian mounted archers gained a fearsome reputation, both within the Carpathian Basin and in conflicts across much of the rest of Europe. Hungarian warrior burials are common from this period, with warriors found buried with a range of weapons including axes, spears, sabres, swords, and swords with sabre hilts, as well as composite bows, arrows, quivers, and bow-cases. Archery equipment is far more ubiquitous in these graves. However, our understanding of these burials is limited by the preservational conditions in the Carpathian Basin, which mean that in most cases only inorganic parts of weapons and equipment have survived, and an apparent lack of any correlation between the presence and quantity of grave goods and the social status of the person they are buried with.
In a paper published in the journal PLOS One on 26 November 2024, a team of archaeologists led by Balázs Tihanyi of the Department of Biological Anthropology and the Department of Archaeology at the University of Szeged, and the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Institute of Hungarian Research, describe a woman buried with weapons from the tenth century Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld Cemetery in Hajdú-Bihar County, Hungary.
Map of Hungary showing the location of the Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld archaeological site. Luca Kis in Tihanyi et al. (2024).
The Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld Cemetery, close to the village of Sárrétudvari in Hajdú-Bihar County, was excavated in 1983-85, and has since been effectively destroyed as an archaeological site by intensive agriculture. The site contained a small number of burials dating back to the Bronze Age, and 262 graves dating from the tenth century AD. The skeletons of 263 individuals were recovered from the 262 graves excavated, with another two individuals identified but two fragmentary to be recovered. Of these individuals, 101 were identified as sub-adults, and 162 as adults.
An initial assessment of the individuals from the Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld Cemetery, based upon morphological examination of their skulls and post-cranial skeletons, determined that 70 were female and 85 were male, with the remainder impossible to classify. A subsequent analysis based upon examination of the pelvis only (thought to be a more reliable technique) determined that 52 of the skeletons were female and 69 were male, with a larger proportion of undiagnosable remains.
The majority of the graves have west-east orientation (i.e. head to the west, feet to the east), although some are orientated north-south, and a smaller number south-north. Most of the individuals were buried flat on their backs in an extended position, although two had bent knees.
A wide range of grave goods were buried with the individuals in the Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld Cemetery. These include items of jewellery such as penannular hair rings, earrings, strings of beads, bracelets, and finger rings, clothing elements such as belt buckles, bell buttons, and broaches which would have been used to secure dresses, knives, fire-lighting tools, and riding-related items, such as stirrups, bits, fragments of saddle, and even horse bones. Notably, 58 of the individuals were burried with weapons, a far higher proportion than is seen in other known cemetery-sites in the Carpathian Basin in the same period. These weapons include sabres and axes, as well as many archery-related items, such as arrowheads, traces of quiver, and antler bow plates.
One of these armed burials was Grave No. 63, located at the western end of the cemetery, which contained an individual buried with a southwest-northeast orientation, lying on its side, with knees bent. This individual was buried with a range of grave goods, including a silver penannular hair ring near the left part of the occipital bone, three bell buttons (one positioned beneath the skull, another beneath the right clavicle, and the third close to the knees), a string of beads near the left clavicle, including faience beads with blue eye-shaped inlays, yellow and white semiprecious stone beads, and segmented glass beads in various colours, an 'armour-piercing' arrowhead found at the distal end of the grave pit (several iron fragments possibly belonging to further arrowheads were also found in the soil of the grave), fragmented iron parts of a quiver situated near the left side of the skeleton from the shoulder to the toes, and an antler bow plate with convex sides and peaked ends located near the hip and the left hand, which was possibly being gripped by the individual when buried.
Artifacts found in grave No. 63: 91) arrowhead; (2) bell button; (3) silver penannular hair ring; (4) a string of beads; (5) fragments of bell buttons; and (6) antler bow plate. Zoltán Faur & Luca Kis in Tihanyi et al. (2024).
The individual from Grave No. 63 (SH-63) has a skull with a reasonably well-preserved cranium, but lacking most of the face, of which only the mandible, fragments of the two maxillae, and the left zygomatic bone remain. More than 50% of the post-cranial skeleton is present, but the bones of the spine, sternum, and pelvis are mostly represented by bone fragments. SH-63 has been determined to be an adult on the basis that all of the bones which would be expected to have fused in an adult individual are fused, and the thinness of the bones has been taken as an indication that this was an older individual, although it was not possible to make a more precise age estimation.
The skeletal remains discovered in grave No. 63. (A) Photo indicating the current state of preservation of the bones; and (B) Photo of the burial No. 63 in situ. Luca Kis & Ibolya Nepper in Tihanyi et al. (2024).
The poor preservation of the skeleton. and in particular the pelvis, of SH-63 made it difficult to determine the individual's sex by morphological means. The skull did appear to show some feminine traits, but this was not deemed sufficient to assign a sex to the skull by previous studies. Tihanyi et al. were able to extract genetic from a tooth, one humorous, and the petrosal process of the temporal bone. All three of these indicate that the individual was female, the sample from the pars pretrosa with sufficient confidence to rule out the possibility of the individual being male.
Cranial features used for sex determination showing feminine characteristics. (A) A very small mastoid process; (B) A smooth frontal contour with little or no projection of the glabellar area; (C) Complete absence of nuchal crest with a smooth external occipital surface; and (D) A smooth mental eminence with slight projection above the surrounding bone. Luca Kis in Tihanyi et al. (2024).
Examination of the skeleton of SH-63 revealed a number of signs that the individual was suffering from osteoporosis, notably bone fragility, traces of a reduced trabecular system in the vertebrae, an increased diameter of the medullary cavity in the long bones, thinning of cortical bone in both the skull and postcranial elements, and several antemortem bone fractures. Since osteoporosis is a condition which predominantly affects older women, this could be another indication that SH-64 was female, although Tihanyi et al. are careful to note that the observed conditions are only indicators of the disease, not enough for an absolute diagnosis. Previous studies of skeletons at Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld have found six other possible cases of osteoporosis, five affecting skeletons confidently assigned as female, and one affecting an individual of unknown sex. No instances of confidently male skeletons with symptoms of osteoporosis have been found.
The skeleton shows a number of signs of injuries having been suffered in life. These include a possible two-part neck fracture to the right humerus, an injury most commonly associated with an accidental fall onto an outstretched arm. Such injuries are most commonly seen in adolescents and the elderly, with older women suffering from osteoporosis being particularly vulnerable.
Changes observed on the proximal end of the right humerus, at the level of the surgical neck. (A) Lateral and anterior views; (B) Anterior and medial views; and (C) Medial and posterior views. Luca Kis in Tihanyi et al. (2024).
Another fracture is present on the right scapula, with two parts of the bone having apparently healed without rejoining, producing new secondary facets which faced one-another. The left scapula also shows signs of a fracture, although in this case it appears to have healed more normally. Fractures to the scapula are unusual, and are generally associated with older individuals, as in younger people the scapula tends to be well-protected by overlaying muscle. Again, such injuries are generally associated with falls, and an individual with osteoporosis would be more vulnerable to such injuries.
Changes observed on the lateral margin of the right scapula. (A) The two separate bone fragments of the lateral margin (anterior view). Note: the glenoid cavity is in the upper left corner of the photo; and (B) The margins of the two bone fragments forming a secondary facet. Luca Kis in Tihanyi et al. (2024).
Signs of traumatic injury in life are quite common in male skeletons from Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld, but relatively unusual in females, suggesting the two sexes had very different lifestyles. Multiple injuries, and in particular injuries to the arms, are particularly common on male skeletons buried with weapons or riding equipment. Thus, although the injuries to SH-63 are consistent with a diagnosis of osteoporosis, they are also typical of the injuries seen in individuals buried with weapons and riding equipment.
Interestingly, SH-63 also showed asymmetry in the development of the tendon and muscle attachments, with the right side being more developed than the west, sugesing a lifetime spent carrying out activities which promoted such asymmetric development. This has previously been recorded in male skeletons from Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld, and has been theorised to be associated with practice with weapons.
The way in which SH-63 was buried is also interesting. The southwest-northeast orientation of the grave is at odds with the majority of the graves at Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld, but it is by no means unique; there are several other graves with this orientation, the majority of which are at the western end of the cemetery, where SH-63 was found. Notably, most of these other southwest-northeast orientated graves also contain weapons. SH-63 is also one of two individuals buried on one side with flexed knees at Sárrétudvari–Hízófóld; all others being buried on their backs with limbs extended. The other such individual, SH-69, has previously been determined to have been female, and was buried with a silver penannular hair ring, two bronze finger rings, and a knife, but no weapons or other potential military equipment. Some previous studies of other sites from the same period within the Carpathian Basin have suggested that bodies buried in a flexed position tend to have less grave goods than those in an extended position, and it has been proposed that such individuals may have been slaves. However, Tihanyi et al. could find no study which has caried out a systematic analysis of this phenomenon, and suggest instead that is may relate in some way to the sex of the individuals buried this way, although, since the majority of female burials are also on their backs in an extended position, it is unclear how.
(A) Silhouette of the skeleton of SH-63; (B) Illustration of the burial based on archaeological, anthropological, and archaeogenetic data. Luca Kis in Tihanyi et al. (2024).
Thus individual SH-63 appears potenrially to have been a woman both buried with, and practiced in the use of weapons, who developed a number of traumatic injuries later in life, either due to this unconventional lifestyle or to the onset of osteoperosis, or some combination of both. However, Tihanyi et al. are careful to point out that the poor preservation of SH-63 means that this interpretation cannot be taken as proven.
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