An extraordinary interdisciplinary study led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is rewriting our understanding of prehistoric labor, revealing that women in Nubia, present-day Sudan, developed unique skeletal adaptations from carrying heavy loads on their heads as far back as the Bronze Age—over 3,500 years ago. Published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, this groundbreaking research not only challenges long-held male-centered narratives of physical labor but also uncovers a hidden history of resilience and social complexity embodied in the very bones of Nubian women.
For centuries, historical and archaeological scholarship has largely depicted men as the primary agents of physical labor in ancient societies, relegating women’s work to the domestic or invisible spheres. However, this new research systematically dismantles that assumption by demonstrating how Nubian women of the Kerma culture (circa 2500–1500 BCE) routinely shouldered substantial burdens, including heavy loads and even children, with sophisticated techniques utilizing head straps known as tumplines. These findings provide a fresh perspective on gendered labor division, mobility, and social roles in ancient Africa.
The study was spearheaded by Jared Carballo, a scholar affiliated with the UAB Department of Antiquity and Middle Ages Studies and Leiden University in the Netherlands, alongside Uroš Matić from the University of Essen in Germany. Their approach uniquely combines osteoarchaeological analysis of skeletal remains with detailed ethnographic and iconographic comparisons from African and Mediterranean societies. Such a multidisciplinary methodology enabled the researchers to interpret subtle skeletal markers alongside depictions of Nubian women in Egyptian tomb imagery, creating a rich narrative of daily labor practices over millennia.
Focusing on the Bronze Age necropolis of Abu Fatima near Kerma—the capital of the ancient Nubian kingdom of Kush, a formidable rival of ancient Egypt—the team examined 30 human skeletons, including 14 females and 16 males excavated by the Sudanese-American Mission. Striking sex-based morphological differences emerged. Males predominantly displayed musculoskeletal stress markers in the shoulders and arms suggestive of carrying loads on the shoulders or engaging in upper limb-intensive tasks. In sharp contrast, females showed distinct modifications in the cervical vertebrae and cranial bones, consistent with repeated, prolonged use of tumplines that transfer heavy weight from forehead to the back of the skull.
Among the individuals studied, one stands out vividly—an elder woman dubbed "individual 8A2," who died after the age of 50 and was interred with exquisite grave goods such as an ostrich feather fan and a leather cushion, indicating her high status. Biochemical isotopic analysis detected that she originated from a different geographic region, signaling that she was a migrant to the area. Her skull exhibits a pronounced depression behind the coronal suture and severe cervical osteoarthritis, hallmark signs of chronic head-loading stress. This evidence substantiates how her life, likely shaped by constantly transporting heavy loads across the Nile Valley’s rural environment, materially transformed her skeleton in enduring ways—a silent testimony to the gendered labor invisible in written histories.
Carballo eloquently encapsulates this phenomenon: “This way of life is as common as it is overlooked by written history. In some way, the study reveals how women literally have carried the weight of society on their heads for millennia.” His insight resonates beyond archaeology, urging a reevaluation of how pre-industrial societal labor and inequality have shaped human biology. The study powerfully demonstrates that skeletal changes are not mere artifacts of aging but mirror lived social roles and cultural practices.
Incorporating anthropological theories such as “body techniques”—the habitual ways individuals use their bodies influenced by culture—and Judith Butler’s concept of “gender performativity,” the researchers provide a sophisticated framework to interpret how bodies are physically sculpted by repetitive activities rooted in social identity and roles. This approach deepens the understanding of how labor patterns, gender norms, and social structure converge to leave tangible traces on human anatomy over generations.
The implications ripple far beyond ancient Nubia. Similar head-loading practices appear in later Egyptian tomb art featuring Nubian women and persist today among rural populations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Thus, this phenomenon is not just an archaeological curiosity, but a living tradition embodying resilience and economic agency. These practices express a complex interplay of physical endurance, gendered labor division, social inequality, and cultural memory—where the material burden carried on the head also symbolizes the societal burdens borne by women across history.
This study opens exciting new avenues for research into prehistoric women’s mobility, highlighting how physical labor associated with motherhood and domestic economies has long shaped women’s lives and bodies. The findings suggest that women’s logistical and economic roles in agrarian and pastoral societies warrant deeper attention, as they fundamentally influence social organization and survival strategies in rural communities.
The necropolis of Abu Fatima thus becomes a crucial window into the Nile Valley’s deep past, a landscape where cultural interaction, migration, and gender dynamics intersected beneath the surface of dominant civilizations like Egypt. As Carballo concludes, “Abu Fatima offers a powerful reminder of how heavy the silences around women in history still are.” By listening closely to the stories written in bones, scholars are finally beginning to illuminate those silences, rewriting prehistoric narratives to center women’s experiences.
This landmark study showcases the potential of multidisciplinary research, blending archaeology, anthropology, and biochemistry to unlock complex human stories long obscured by historical bias. The combining of bone analysis with ethnographic models and iconography exemplifies a new wave in archaeological science, revealing how bodies carry the imprints of cultural identity, labor, and resilience over millennia.
Such research not only enriches our understanding of ancient Nubia but challenges contemporary perspectives on gender and labor, reminding us that the rhythms of work and survival are inscribed deep within human history and anatomy. The legacy of the women of Abu Fatima—whose heads bore loads both literal and symbolic—continues to resonate as a testament to the endurance and agency of women across time.
As modern science uncovers these vestiges of ancient life, it also compels society to acknowledge the often invisible contributions of women throughout history. The intersections of biology, culture, and social organization that shaped these women’s bodies underscore the profound interdependence between human physicality and cultural practice, urging a more inclusive and nuanced reconstruction of the human past.
This pioneering study was conducted in collaboration between the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Leiden University, the University of Essen, and the University of California Santa Barbara, demonstrating international cooperation in advancing archaeological and anthropological knowledge. The detailed osteological assessments, combined with cutting-edge biochemical and ethnographic approaches, pave the way for future interdisciplinary investigations into the lived experiences encoded in human remains worldwide.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Tumplines, baskets, and heavy burden? Interdisciplinary approach to load carrying in Bronze Age Abu Fatima, Sudan
News Publication Date: 2-Mar-2025
Web References: 10.1016/j.jaa.2024.101652
Keywords: Nubia, Bronze Age, Kerma culture, head-loading, tumplines, skeletal adaptation, gender roles, anthropology, archaeology, skeletal biology, labor division, prehistoric women
