Queen Puabi's headdress

[3][1] Successive Mesopotamian societies built new cities on top of previous civilizations and commonly created tells (multilayer man-made mounds) to preserve human remains.

[5] In the grave, excavators also found the remnants of female attendants – adorned in similar jewelry and hair ribbons – whose purpose was to serve the queen in her afterlife.

[9] Although scholars were missing this information, that did not impede Katharine Woolley and one of the Penn Museum's curators, Father Leon Legrain, from giving Queen Puabi a face (and adding make-up).

[6] In contrast to the poplar wreaths, the goldsmith used different pieces of gold to create the willow leaves (except for the central leaf that joins with the strands of beads).

[10] Natural themes are present in archaic royal women's clothing across cultures because it alludes to females as fertile and bountiful creatures and promotes their role as the producers of successive generations.

[13] In the visual representations of different ancient cultures, height was commonly used to indicate rank, proximity to a divine figure, or a gender hierarchy.

To support the weight of the headdress and comply with the norm of intricate hairstyles during the Early Dynastic period, Queen Puabi most likely wore a wig or hairpiece.

[5] The impressive length (some at 36 ft long)[6] and perfect straightness (devoid of human error) add cultic significance to the production of the ribbon.

[7] Craftsmanship was the workers offering to the divine, and by using a time-consuming process of repetitive (almost ritualistic) pounding, they were able to achieve perfection and "...hide the hand of the mortal maker.