Reinterpreting the World's Oldest Art…
It's a well-worn cliché, but we tend to imagine cavemen going out to hunt deer and bison while the cavewomen stayed at home nursing babies. And maybe doing a bit of cooking!
The hypothesis, dating back to the 1960s, is known as the "Man-The-Hunter model".
But is it a myth? Well, a new study claims that prehistoric women were not only involved in hunting but were likely better at it than men.
In a new study, just published in the journal American Anthropologist as well as being the cover story for the November issue of Scientific American, researchers at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana) upturned years of conventional history by arguing that not only did prehistoric women engage in the practice of hunting, but their female anatomy and biology would have made them intrinsically better at it. "Our studies are trying to correct the history that erased women" said Dr Cara Ocobock, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, and lead author of the study.
When Cara Ocobock was a young child, she often wondered at the images in movies, books, comics and cartoons portraying prehistoric men and women as "man the hunter", with spear in hand, accompanied by "woman the gatherer", with a baby strapped to her back and a basket of crop seeds in hand. "This was what everyone was used to seeing," Ocobock said.
"This was the assumption that we've all just had in our minds and that was carried through in our museums of natural history."
The idea that cavewomen hunted - as well as gathered fruit and veg' - should not really come as a surprise. Women hunt in the majority of cultures - using a variety of weapons and tactics.
Ocobock argues that the female body is actually better suited for endurance activity, which would have been critical in prehistoric hunting which likely involved a lot of tracking and not so much high speed chasing.
The main reason for this biological advantage are two hormones - oestrogen and adiponectin - which are present in higher quantities in female bodies than in male. These two hormones play a critical role in encouraging the body to use its stored fat for energy.
Professor Ocobock said: "Since fat contains more calories than carbs do, it's a longer, slower burn, which means that the same sustained energy can keep you going longer and can delay fatigue". She added: "Oestrogen is really the unsung hero of life, in my mind. It is so important for cardiovascular and metabolic health, brain development and injury recovery."
The study went on to examine fossils for archaeological evidence of women as hunters and found that both males and females seem to have had hunting injuries and equal rates of wear and tear. Additional evidence came from burial sites in the Holocene period in Peru where females were buried with hunting weapons.
Alongside fragments of cranium, teeth and leg bones, archaeologists found a hunting kit with more tools than they had ever seen: projectile points, flakes, scrapers, choppers and burnishing stones. This discovery led to a review of the findings from other burials in the early Americas that concluded that big game hunting between 14,000 and 8,000 years ago was gender-neutral. Professor Ocobock said: "Hunting belonged to everyone, not just to males. There weren't enough people living in groups to be specialised in different tasks. Everyone had to be a generalist to survive." She added: "This revelation is especially important in the current political moment of our society where sex and gender are in a spotlight."
But what about ancient cave art? This often depicts hunting scenes. Could those stick figures really have been women as well as men - and if not, why not? Were cave painters the "mainstream media" of the time pushing a male narrative? Have a look and decide for yourself.
The idea that cavewomen hunted - as well as gathered fruit and veg' - should not really come as a surprise. Women hunt in the majority of cultures - using a variety of weapons and tactics.
Ocobock argues that the female body is actually better suited for endurance activity, which would have been critical in prehistoric hunting which likely involved a lot of tracking and not so much high speed chasing.
The main reason for this biological advantage are two hormones - oestrogen and adiponectin - which are present in higher quantities in female bodies than in male. These two hormones play a critical role in encouraging the body to use its stored fat for energy.
Professor Ocobock said: "Since fat contains more calories than carbs do, it's a longer, slower burn, which means that the same sustained energy can keep you going longer and can delay fatigue". She added: "Oestrogen is really the unsung hero of life, in my mind. It is so important for cardiovascular and metabolic health, brain development and injury recovery."
The study went on to examine fossils for archaeological evidence of women as hunters and found that both males and females seem to have had hunting injuries and equal rates of wear and tear. Additional evidence came from burial sites in the Holocene period in Peru where females were buried with hunting weapons.
Alongside fragments of cranium, teeth and leg bones, archaeologists found a hunting kit with more tools than they had ever seen: projectile points, flakes, scrapers, choppers and burnishing stones. This discovery led to a review of the findings from other burials in the early Americas that concluded that big game hunting between 14,000 and 8,000 years ago was gender-neutral. Professor Ocobock said: "Hunting belonged to everyone, not just to males. There weren't enough people living in groups to be specialised in different tasks. Everyone had to be a generalist to survive." She added: "This revelation is especially important in the current political moment of our society where sex and gender are in a spotlight."
But what about ancient cave art? This often depicts hunting scenes. Could those stick figures really have been women as well as men - and if not, why not? Were cave painters the "mainstream media" of the time pushing a male narrative? Have a look and decide for yourself.
Rock paintings from the borders of Tassili N'Ajjer in Algeria, a World Heritage site, The rocky massif has thousands of cave paintings in very different styles, dating from 12,000 B.C. to A.D. 100. They reflect marked changes in the fauna and flora, and also the different ways of life of the people that lived there.
By our Archaeology office in Domfront…
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