Bone Analysis Reveals Etruscan Warrior Princess

News October 21, 2013

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(Rossella Lorenzi)

TARQUINIA, ITALY—Analysis of the skeleton discovered in an untouched Etruscan tomb last month has revealed that its so-called warrior prince is actually a middle-aged woman. The 2,600-year-old tomb contains two funerary beds carved into the rock. The remains of the princess, who was holding a spear, lay on one of the platforms. The other held a partially incinerated skeleton, now identified as that of a man. An aryballos, painted in the Greek-Corinthian style, hung from a nail on the wall. Several pieces of jewelry and a bronze-plated box were also recovered. 

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