Set apart from within: Articulated women in commingled tombs from Early Bronze Age Arabia

Abstract

The vast majority of individuals who died during the Umm an-Nar period (2700–2000 BCE) of the Early Bronze Age (3200–2000 BCE) in south-eastern Arabia were interred within large communal tombs, and following decomposition, their skeletons became commingled with others. Here, two women are discussed whose skeletons remained articulated – one from Unar 2 at Shimal, and one from Tell Abraq. The Unar 2 female was left unburned, exhibited a pathological lesion on her talus, and was directly associated with an articulated dog, indicating that she may have engaged in hunting or herding activities despite her reduced mobility. The Tell Abraq woman suffered from paralytic poliomyelitis, suggesting that she received care as a member of her community despite her disability and non-local status. Whatever the role these women played in Umm an-Nar society, both were set apart in meaningful ways, speaking to an identity that granted them special status in death.