Tombs, materiality and maternity in the Bell Beaker female burials: Two Case Studies in the middle Tagus valley

Abstract

Two Bell Beaker tombs in Toledo’s province aid to evaluate the women burials from the Iberian Peninsula and the existence of identifiable behaviour based on sex. Women are part of Bell Beaker burials and they appear in all the different constructions, associations and rituals distinctive of this period of time. Grave goods show heterogeneity while displaying her social relevance and integration within their society. This suggests that the women burials remain in the same social status of Bell Beaker communities, regardless of sex. The fact that one of the case studies is a pregnant woman allows us to rethink the importance of maternity in the 3rd millennium B.C. and the casuality of the pregnancy in women death in the past.