The gender roles in Late Stone Age societies according to human skeletons and stone tools: The preliminary results
Abstract
The contribution will present the preliminary results of our current anthropological & archaeological research. Its aim is to bring some dates to the discussion about possible "gender roles" in past European societies.
We have chosen such burial grounds, that fulfill two main conditions: 1) There were a few graves found that contained preserved human skeletons where it was possible to find out - thanks to an anthropological research - if they were female or male. 2) These graves contain, together with the human remains, some pieces of stone industry (especially flint tools) that are suitable for application of microwear analysis. We have started our project with artifacts from Jinonice, today part of the city of Prague city (56 graves, 43 pieces of chipped industry) and Vlineves, near the city of Melnik (45 graves, 41 pieces of chipped industry).
Both are burial grounds of Late Stone Age (Corded Were Culture) and they meet these conditions very well. These places are also important in their category in the whole Central European context.
The microwear analysis was applied on dozens of the stone artifacts from these burial grounds. The interpretations of work usage of the tools connected with the gender of their owners will be published in the poster.
This research is the first one of its kind in the Czech Republic and could be an interesting resource for the better understanding of our ancestors' lives.