Warrior woman! Mystery of 2,000-year-old tomb in the Isles of Scilly is finally SOLVED as scientists say skeleton found with mirror and sword was female

The long-running mystery of a prehistoric tomb has finally been solved after years of scientific debate.

New research led by Historic England has revealed that a 2,000-year-old Iron Age burial site in the Isles of Scilly actually belonged to a warrior woman.

Since its discovery in 1999, archaeologists have pondered back and forth on the sex of the individual who possessed both a mirror and a sword.

But new evidence suggests this woman may have been a leading figure – perhaps among many other “hidden” female warriors during the Iron Age.

“Our findings provide a tremendous opportunity to reinterpret this important burial,” said Sarah Stark, a human skeletal biologist at Historic England.

“They provide evidence of a leading role for a woman in Iron Age Scilly warfare.”

During the excavation 24 years ago, archaeologists found a copper alloy sword and a shield – both items commonly associated with men.

But next to it was also a bronze mirror decorated with what appears to be a solar disk motif, which experts say would typically indicate that the remains belonged to a woman.

To discover the correct sex, scientists had previously performed DNA analysis and visual assessments.

But these efforts failed largely because of the bone quality at the site, which had deteriorated over 2,000 years.

As part of the latest research, scientists instead analyzed the protein from small bits of leftover tooth enamel.

These have become incredibly useful to researchers because they survive much longer than DNA.

“Tooth enamel is the hardest and most durable substance in the human body,” said Glendon Parker, a professor of environmental toxicology at the University of California at Davis.

‘Tooth enamel is the hardest and most durable substance in the human body. It contains a protein linked to the X or Y chromosome, which allows it to be used to determine sex.’

Thanks to chromosome analysis, scientists now believe there is a 96 percent chance that the individual was female.

This gives a whole new meaning to the mirror, sword and shield found at her grave.

Most of the warfare was probably during the British Iron Age surprise attacks by a war party on enemy settlements.

The mirror and weapons found in the tomb are all associated with warfare, experts say, with mirrors having an array of practical and symbolic uses.

Signaling could be one of the mirror’s uses, as warriors aimed to communicate and coordinate attacks.

But mirrors also had ritual functions – used as a tool to communicate with the supernatural world to ensure the success of a heist.

These findings suggest that female involvement in prehistoric violence may have been more common than previously thought.

Ms Stark said: ‘Although we can never fully know the symbolism of objects found in graves, the combination of a sword and a mirror suggests that this woman was of high status within her community and may have played a leading role in local warfare, organizing or leading attacks on rival groups.

“This might suggest that women’s involvement in robberies and other forms of violence was more common in Iron Age society than we previously thought, and it might have laid the groundwork for leaders like Boudicca that would emerge later.”

“It would be interesting to reanalyze other degraded burials to see if there are more “hidden” female warriors.”

The Warrior’s Burial Ground is the richest Iron Age grave yet found in South West England and is the only one in the region to contain weapons.

Both the sword and mirror are now on display at the Isles of Scilly Museum.