A woman in a silver diadem was buried under the council hall of La Almoloya, and most of the grave's wealth was hers, not the man's buried with her

In 2014 excavators at La Almoloya, a hilltop seat of the Argaric culture, found Grave 38 under the floor of a large hall with benches for about 50 people, a podium and a hearth. The researchers call it one of the earliest Bronze Age palaces in Western Europe and the only building known at Argaric sites used for politics. In a large pot lay a man of 35 to 40 and a woman of 25 to 30 who died at about the same time. Most of about 30 valuable items were hers: bracelets, necklaces, ear plugs and a silver diadem. Her silver, about 230 grams, equals about 27.5 shekels, roughly 938 days' wages in Babylonia. DNA showed the two were not related to each other. A girl buried nearby was the child of both. Four similar diadems dug at El Argar in the 19th century all came from rich women's graves. In Antiquity in March 2021 Lull and colleagues argued that such women may have governed. Co-author Cristina Rihuete said burial under the hall legitimised the pair's position. Argaric men were often buried with swords, which the authors link to enforcing decisions.