Comparisons of bone strength between prehistoric women and living female athletes demonstrate that prehistoric women performed rigorous manual labor for thousands of years in central Europe at levels exceeding those of modern women. Additionally, in contrast to men, manual labor was a more important component of prehistoric women's behavior than terrestrial mobility through the first 5,500 years of European farming, suggesting women's labor was crucial to the development of agriculture. Scientists from the University of Cambridge and anthropologist Ron Pinhasi (University of Vienna) compared the bones of prehistoric women spanning the first ~6,150 years of agriculture in central Europe to living female semi-elite athletes - endurance runners, rowers and soccer players - and sedentary women. [read more]
A.A. Macintosh; J.T. Stock, R. Pinhasi: Prehistoric women's manual labor exceeded that of athletes through the first 5500 years of farming in Central Europe.
Science Advance, Vol. 3, no. 11
