Five patterns were created to describe the male / female relationship:
1 - Men and women collect, men hunt.
2 - Men and women collect and hunt collectively.
3 - Men hunt and women collect.
4 - Men hunt and women process the product of hunting.
5 - Women collect and hunt, men hunt and fish.
There were 5 general models of neolithic organization. Although I am inclined to put more specialized ones:
Men did: mining (salt, amber, charcoal, etc.) and hunted, women collected.
If you continue a topic, no need to create your own! Just hit “Reply” at the bottom of the topic so people who participated get notified and can continue the discussion, to not flood the forum.
Also, the “References” section is supposed to comprise references, like the images you post, books, magazines, or videos. And you should not be so quick to assuredly proclaim Neolithic social organization was comparable to today’s or another epoch’s (as you may have learned), discoveries are being made continuously, and our vision of History is constantly changing.
If you find written/archaeological evidence for such a definite set of patterns in Prehistoric economy, please let us know as we may be on the verge of a groundbreaking discovery. This little joke mostly aims to make you reflect on latest research and open your mind. Research is (hopefully!) not fixed.
My browser sometimes has problem do not appearing item responses.
But I find a great and central theme in the game to destroy myths and contradictions of archeology. Archeology proves to be im period of wars for example. In that it also varied with great commercial activity and of large scale exploration with mining of silex, obsidian, salt, amber, etc. And still horticulture gaining strength and scale with the gradual advent of domestications and metals, changing radically. Stage we have industries already charcoal, and stone objects thanks to the machines of the period, but also the “guilds”, groups of artisans specializing in stone objects, mining, large-scale ceramics, and clear trade between peoples. This would explain the diffusion of objects in Europe and the great routes of salt, amber, silex … Another detail is that such mineral societies, manufactures of lytic objects, and potters, depict a new social configuration. It must have formed division capable of having any arrangement. Surely groups producing lytic objects such as silex and obsidian tips used large numbers of men in mining and manufacturing. Releasing women to a specialized practice of horticulture. Probably a social egalitarianism. And it also opens up the lucrative trade to the “Chiefdom” or stabilishment of power of the council of elders, and its greater powers; shaman, chief of warriors, healer. These functions can be both male and female. This has logic. Hunting becomes a minor element whereas men limited by their group activity to hunting and protecting the collection of resources whether women or mixed, should fit a new pattern more fixed and territorialized. The need for specialized castes arises; soldiers and hunters, but also transporters. We have the dawn of the early kingdoms. Yes as all know is the trade the generator of riches and improvements. This opens up a whole range of scale and later specializations with copper, craftsmen can manufacture on a larger scale, leaving that small-scale and occasional manufacture. As the demand for metal items grow and replace lithic objects. The need that the previous arrangement of groups specialized in mining and manufacturing increases the agricultural scale and the domestication, that is to say, gradually becomes a necessity to leave agriculture with a lot of manual labor and service for something more mechanized, use of oxen and horses and the advent of stone plow. We then have large agricultural areas, less manpower in the field, freeing more people to other activities; transport, shipbuilding, ceramism, mining … and copper metallurgy. This release of labor also increases the armies or class of warriors. And this is possible by the view of the stabilishment of the leaders of the chiefdom. And it can generate so many unfoldings of old regimes; hereditary absolute monarchies, theocracies under the egypt of priests and temples, clan democracies with advice from elders - see judges of Israel in the BIBLE, what we could say a “parliamentarism” in a way.
