Researchers from the University of Seville have led a study that analysed the perforated beads discovered in the Tholos de Montelirio, part of the Copper Age mega-site of Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán (Seville). The conclusions of their work, published in the journal Science Advances, highlight the importance of the ceremonial clothing and its symbolism.

The garments worn by the women buried in the Montelirio tholos were made using perforated beads and probably linen fibre to bind them together. They were ceremonial garments which, in at least two cases, were full-length tunics. These robes were also ornamented with ivory and amber pendants representing acorns, birds and other, unidentifiable, items. The radiocarbon dating study reveals that these robes were manufactured at the same time as the Montelirio burials were made, between 2800 and 2700 BC.

The materials found at Montelirio constitute the largest collection of perforated beads ever documented in a single tomb. A quantification of the collection, which is currently conserved at the Archaeological Museum of Seville, has found that some 270,000 of these beads have been found to date. This makes Montelirio the largest collection of such objects discovered anywhere in the world.

These beads, with an average diameter of between 2 and 5 millimetres, were mostly made from the shells of marine molluscs of the Pectinidae and Cardidiae families. Of these, the popular ‘scallop’ shells stand out; they are known today as the symbol of the apostle St. James and the famous pilgrimage route associated with him, but which in antiquity were the symbol of the goddess Venus/Aphrodite. The results of the experimental study show that, in total, more than 800 kilogrammes of these shells were used, which had to be collected from the coasts and beaches that 5000 years ago stretched along what is now the lower Guadalquivir Valley and its marshes.

The garments had a strongly symbolic meaning, given the marine nature of the raw material used and their intense white colour. Dressed in them, and probably ornamented (perhaps painted) with red cinnabar pigment, which is found in abundance in the same tomb, these women performed tasks of religious and probably political leadership in their time, managing a famous sanctuary around which important congregations of great social significance took place.

An extensive study carried out over the last five years - including meticulous quantification of the collection, characterisation of raw materials, radiocarbon dating and statistical chronometric modelling, morphometric analysis, phytolith analysis, experimental work and contextual analysis – has revealed several new features of these remarkable creations. The role of the garments as sumptuary attributes loaded with symbolism, used by a selected group of women of high social position, underlines the extraordinary role that the mega-site of Valencina played 5,000 years ago as a central social, political and religious place, a reference for a wide range of communities distributed throughout the Guadalquivir Valley and, more generally, the south of the Iberian Peninsula.

The work, led by researchers from the University of Seville’s Atlas Group features eighteen specialists from various national and international scientific institutions, including the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), the universities of La Laguna, Huelva, Granada and Basque Country (Spain), Southampton and Durham (UK) and Northwestern (USA), as well as the Municipal Museum of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville).