Books by Marta Cintas Peña
Until recently, the study of Iberian Copper Age society was severely hampered by the limited avai... more Until recently, the study of Iberian Copper Age society was severely hampered by the limited availability of anthropological and demographic data. This was largely caused by the fact that the main reference sites for this period offered limited collections of human bone. With the turn of the 21st century this situation has gradually changed. In this paper we present a multi-disciplinary approach to a well-dated and well-contextualised collection of 126 individuals, retrieved from the Valencina Copper Age megasite (Sevilla, Spain). A host of methods are applied , including standard bioarchaeology, amelogenin peptides, stable strontium isotopes, aDNA and total mercury. The results offer the first methodologically complex view of Iberian Early Copper Age society, including themes such as burial rites, sex and age demographics, pathologies, mobility, biological kinship, ancestry and lifestyles. This reveals a fluid and diverse society based of a high degree of mobility and far-reaching connectivity, with limited social hierarchization and a striking prevalence of female leaders. This evidence suggests that further highresolution multi-method approaches need to be taken in order to understand early complex societies world-wide, as observations based on the ethnographic record may not provide entirely valid epistemological frameworks.
Cintas-Peña, Marta (2020). La desigualdad de género en la Prehistoria ibérica. Una aproximación multivariable. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports., 2020
¿Hubo desigualdad de género en la Prehistoria? ¿Cuándo apareció? Este trabajo intenta abordar las... more ¿Hubo desigualdad de género en la Prehistoria? ¿Cuándo apareció? Este trabajo intenta abordar las diferencias de género y la posible desigualdad entre mujeres y hombres a lo largo de la Prehistoria de la península ibérica. La investigación se lleva a cabo más allá de los límites de un yacimiento específico, utilizando una metodología multi-variable a nivel macrorregional y con una horquilla cronológica de gran amplitud. Para profundizar en el conocimiento de las comunidades prehistóricas de la península ibérica, la autora analiza 15 variables agrupadas en 3 ámbitos: demografía, prácticas funerarias y representaciones gráficas. Los resultados sugieren, en primer lugar, que el método multi-variable utilizado tiene potencial para el análisis sistemático de la desigualdad de género en la Prehistoria; en segundo lugar, este estudio proporciona una reconstrucción más completa de los roles de mujeres, hombres y niños/as en las sociedades del pasado.
Was there gender inequality in Prehistory? When did it appear? This work attempts to address gender differences and possible inequality between women and men throughout Prehistory in Iberia . The research looks outside the limits of a specific site, using a multi-proxy methodology in a wide chronological and macro-regional level. To shed light on the prehistoric communities of Iberia, the author analyses 15 variables grouped in 3 spheres: demography, funerary practices and graphic representations. The results suggest, first, that the multi-proxy method used has potential for the systematic study of gender inequalities in Prehistory and, second, it provides a more complete reconstruction of the roles of women, men and children in past societies.
https://www.barpublishing.com/la-desigualdad-de-genero-en-la-prehistoria-iberica.html
Papers by Marta Cintas Peña
Journal of Archaeological Science - Reports, 2025
Until recently, the study of Iberian Copper Age society was severely hampered by the limited avai... more Until recently, the study of Iberian Copper Age society was severely hampered by the limited availability of anthropological and demographic data. This was largely caused by the fact that the main reference sites for this period offered limited collections of human bone. With the turn of the 21st century this situation has gradually changed. In this paper we present a multidisciplinary approach to a well-dated and well-contextualised collection of 126 individuals, retrieved from the Valencina Copper Age megasite (Sevilla, Spain). A host of methods are applied , including standard bioarchaeology, amelogenin peptides, stable strontium isotopes, aDNA and total mercury. The results offer the first methodologically complex view of Iberian Early Copper Age society, including themes such as burial rites, sex and age demographics, pathologies, mobility, biological kinship, ancestry and lifestyles. This reveals a fluid and diverse society based of a high degree of mobility and far-reaching connectivity, with limited social hierarchization and a striking prevalence of female leaders. This evidence suggests that further highresolution multi-method approaches need to be taken in order to understand early complex societies worldwide , as observations based on the ethnographic record may not provide entirely valid epistemological frameworks.
Scientific Reports
Given the absence of written records, the main source of information available to analyze gender ... more Given the absence of written records, the main source of information available to analyze gender inequalities in early complex societies is the human body itself. And yet, for decades, archaeologists have struggled with the sex estimation of poorly preserved human remains. Here we present an exceptional case study that shows how ground-breaking new scientific methods may address this problem. Through the analysis of sexually dimorphic amelogenin peptides in tooth enamel, we establish that the most socially prominent person of the Iberian Copper Age (c. 3200–2200 BC) was not male, as previously thought, but female. The analysis of this woman, discovered in 2008 at Valencina, Spain, reveals that she was a leading social figure at a time where no male attained a remotely comparable social position. Only other women buried a short time after in the Montelirio tholos, part of the same burial area, appear to have enjoyed a similarly high social position. Our results invite to reconsider e...
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2025
Sex estimation based on amelogenin peptides in dental enamel has opened up possibilities to study... more Sex estimation based on amelogenin peptides in dental enamel has opened up possibilities to study prehistoric demography in a new light. The application of this technique is of particular importance for the analysis of prehistoric collective burials, where the commingled and disarticulated nature of human remains makes sex estimations challenging. This paper presents data on the sex of 35 individuals from the Late Neolithic-Chalcolithic site of Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal), obtained by amelogenin peptide analysis of dental enamel. The results are combined with observations on chronological and spatial distribution of the burial structures as well as strontium isotope data obtained from the same teeth. The new evidence enables the analysis of sex-specific mobility patterns, even at a site where the large majority of human remains discovered to date (MNI = 565) are heavily commingled and highly fragmented. The results show a greater number of males (n = 6) than females (n = 2) among the local individuals, and a balance between males (n = 14) and females (n = 13) among nonlocal ones, suggesting similar mobility for both sexes. These results are contextualized with the evidence available both for the Iberian Peninsula and the European continent. The greater female mobility observed at sites with similar chronologies in Central Europe, which has been interpreted in terms of female exogamy and patrilocality, is not replicated at Perdigões, where males and females have similar strontium isotope values.
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Books by Marta Cintas Peña
Was there gender inequality in Prehistory? When did it appear? This work attempts to address gender differences and possible inequality between women and men throughout Prehistory in Iberia . The research looks outside the limits of a specific site, using a multi-proxy methodology in a wide chronological and macro-regional level. To shed light on the prehistoric communities of Iberia, the author analyses 15 variables grouped in 3 spheres: demography, funerary practices and graphic representations. The results suggest, first, that the multi-proxy method used has potential for the systematic study of gender inequalities in Prehistory and, second, it provides a more complete reconstruction of the roles of women, men and children in past societies.
https://www.barpublishing.com/la-desigualdad-de-genero-en-la-prehistoria-iberica.html
Papers by Marta Cintas Peña