A recent study carried out by a multidisciplinary team from the University of Granada has revealed a surprising discovery in the megalithic necropolis of Panoría, located in Darro (Granada, Spain). The research, led by the GEA group of this university, has focused on analyzing the bone remains found in nine graves of this necropolis, where […]
Women
Posted inAncient Greece
Kallipateira, the Woman Who Sneaked into the Olympic Games Disguised as a Man and Lived to Tell the Tale
“Rhodian princess, how did you enter? / It is an ancient custom here to expel women from here.” / “I have a nephew, Eucleos, / three brothers, son, father, Olympic athletes; / you must let me, Hellanodikai, / and to behold the beautiful / bodies, where is the field of Heracles? / They are fighting […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Cynisca, the Spartan Who Became the First Woman to Achieve Victory in the Olympic Games
The Olympic Games of Antiquity were an exclusively male event, and women were prohibited from attending, whether as athletes or spectators; at least the gynaikes (married women), since Pausanias seems to indicate that the parthenai (unmarried young women) could indeed be in the stands. However, Spartan women enjoyed greater freedom, and just as their education […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Thesmophoria, the festival of ancient Greece where men were prohibited from participating
The Thesmophoria were a religious festival in ancient Greece honoring Demeter and her daughter Persephone, goddesses of agriculture and fertility. Held annually, mostly coinciding with the planting of seeds in late autumn, though in some regions it was associated with the harvest, this event celebrated human and agricultural fertility and was one of the most […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
A Neolithic Shaman Buried with Five Distinct Animals Found in the Upper Tigris in Turkey
A team of archaeologists has discovered a tomb at the Neolithic site of Çemka Höyük, located in the Upper Tigris Basin in Turkey. This tomb dates back to the 10th millennium BC and contains the remains of a woman who may have been a shaman or a figure of spiritual significance in her community. The […]
Posted inModern Era
The Woman Who Crossed Africa in 1910 to Visit Her Fiancé’s Grave, and Is Buried in Granada
Despite its great success and being considered a classic today, the film adaptation of King Solomon’s Mines garnered some criticism because one of the characters, Sir Henry Curtis, the man who hires hunter Alan Quatermain to search for his missing brother in Africa, was turned into his wife, Elizabeth Curtis, on screen. A woman, in […]
Posted inAncient Rome
Lex Oppia, the Law that Banned Colorful Dresses and Excessive Jewelry, which Roman Women Managed to Abolish Through Mobilization
Hannibal Barca never imagined that his brilliant victory at the Battle of Cannae (216 BC) would not only be studied in future military academies but would also allow him to leave the Italian peninsula at his mercy, attract the southern half of the territory to his side, and sow panic among the Romans to the […]
Posted inModern Era
The Transgressive Life of Mademoiselle de Maupin, the Opera Singer Who Fought Duels Dressed as a Man
She was an opera star, but she also showcased her fencing skills, fell in love with a young girl whose parents had to hide her in a convent, stole corpses, fought in several duels, accumulated a handful of lovers, had to flee from justice, and her melodramatic life was chronicled by the Parnassian writer Théophile […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
The Body of a Woman Killed in Battle, Buried with 23 Warrior Monks of the Order of Calatrava Discovered in Guadalajara (Spain)
A team of researchers led by Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and the Max Planck Institute has unearthed a surprising find in the cemetery of Zorita de los Canes castle in Guadalajara. After studying the remains of 25 individuals buried between the 12th and 15th centuries, they discovered that among them was a woman. Zorita […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Art
Iaia of Cyzicus, the Greek Painter of Antiquity and Author of the First Known Female Self-Portrait
If we asked readers to name female painters, not many names would likely come up. Most would mention Frida Kahlo and Berthe Morisot, and some might also recall Dora Maar, Yayoi Kusama, or Paula Rego; Spaniards might remember Maruja Mallo, and those who have seen the respective films might think of Leonora Carrington and Margaret […]
