Bickle, Penny orcid.org/0000-0003-2482-0268, Masclans, Alba, Jeunesse, Christian et al. (1 more author) (2021) A sexual division of labour at the start of agriculture?:A multi-proxy comparison through grave good stone tool technological and use-wear analysis. PLoS ONE. e0249130. ISSN 1932-6203
Abstract
This work demonstrates the importance of integrating sexual division of labour in the research of the transition to the Neolithic and its social implications. During the spread of the Neolithic in Europe, when migration led to the dispersal of domesticated plants and animals, novel tasks and the tools used to accomplish them, appear in the archaeological record. By examining the use-wear traces from over 400 stone tools from funerary contexts of the earliest Neolithic in central Europe we provide insights into what tasks were carried out by women and men. The results of this analysis are then examined for statistically significant correlations with the osteological, isotopic and other grave good data, informing on sexed-based differences in diet, mobility and symbolism. Our data demonstrate males were buried with polished stone tools used for woodwork, and butchery hunting or interpersonal violence, while women with those for the working of animal skins, expanding the range of tasks carried out. The results also show variation along an east-west cline from Slovakia to eastern France, suggesting that the sexual division of labour (or at least its representation in death) changed as farming spread westwards.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Masclans et al. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Archaeology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 15 Jul 2021 14:10 |
Last Modified: | 23 Feb 2025 00:05 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249130 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0249130 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:176227 |