Ancient DNA reveals that Bronze Age 'shaman' assumed male was actually female

The ‘Upton Lovell Shaman’ from Wiltshire is an individual from the Bronze Age who was buried with a range of objects including bone jewellery, flint axes and hammers and burnishing stones which may have been used for creating jewellery. They were therefore been interpreted as an important leader and metal worker. However when the burial was discovered in the early 19th century it was assumed that only a man could hold an important position in a society. This and the fact that they were tall and robustly built led archaeologists to sex their skeleton as male. However, recent DNA anaylsis on the surviving bones of the metal-worker has revealed that this person is actually biologically female.