Cross‐sectional geometry in the humeri of foragers and farmers from the prehispanic American Southwest: Exploring patterns in the sexual division of labor

Abstract

The work effort of prehistoric males relative to females has long been of interest to anthropologists, particularly in foraging versus farming groups. This knowledge requires a clear understanding of the sexual division of labor, or the dichotomy in subsistence roles allocated to males and females. Such research in the Prehispanic American Southwest has been limited. As previous work has shown that bone is the osseous template that reflects in vivo activity levels, it is possible to assess gender-based differences in past work effort using analyses of geometric properties of bone and calculations of bilateral asymmetry. Our research comparatively analyzed upper limb work effort by sex and subsistence in two skeletal samples from disparate economic groups, foragers and farmers, both from similar desert environments. The residentially mobile foragers are from the Lower Pecos region of southwest Texas and the farmers are from the aggregated pueblo of Pottery Mound in south central New Mexico. Humeri from 27 adult foragers (n = 11 males; n = 17 females) and 65 adult farmers (n = 38 males; n = 27 females) were selected for study. All humeri were radiographed and/or scanned and digitized. Statistical comparisons using two-way ANOVAs indicate that female farmers exhibited the greatest humeral strength and the least asymmetry. Relative to all other groups examined, female farmers engaged in higher levels of upper limb work effort implying a substantial economic contribution to their agricultural economy.

A Test of the Effectiveness of the Coimbra Method in Capturing Activity‐induced Entheseal Changes

“…Bioarchaeological research has systematically explored evidence of past activity patterns as imprinted on skeletal remains (e.g. Kieser et al, 2001;Marchi, 2008;Robson Brown et al, 2008;Üstündağ, 2009;Jiménez-Brobeil et al, 2010;Ogilvie & Hilton, 2011). Among the primary anatomical areas examined have been the entheses, that is, the sites where muscles, tendons or ligaments attach on the bones (e.g.…”

Divergence in Male and Female Manipulative Behaviors with the Intensification of Metallurgy in Central Europe

“…The interpretation of upper limb biomechanics following the transition to farming is particularly complex: technological developments, increasing socioeconomic complexity, and changing divisions of labor following the emergence of agriculture likely drove increasing diversity of manual activity at both the individual and population levels. In past agricultural populations, low humeral asymmetry in some individuals has been attributed to the bilateral loading associated with agricultural activities such as the grinding of grain and maize and/or the use of bimanual tools [15]–[19]. Yet marked lateralization has also been documented, which may be the result of unilateral loading associated with the manufacture and use of many stone, bone, and metal tools and weapons [17], [19]–[22].…”

“…In past agricultural populations, low humeral asymmetry in some individuals has been attributed to the bilateral loading associated with agricultural activities such as the grinding of grain and maize and/or the use of bimanual tools [15]–[19]. Yet marked lateralization has also been documented, which may be the result of unilateral loading associated with the manufacture and use of many stone, bone, and metal tools and weapons [17], [19]–[22]. Marked lateralization has also been documented in living agropastoralists performing physically demanding fieldwork from adolescence without mechanization [23].…”

Marx, Rawls, Cohen, and Feminism

“…Cohen could now argue that by curtailing female productiveness, structures and superstructures promoted an even more important production factor: reproduction. For decades, scholars have debated whether the practice of agriculture, which also appears to have been a female activity (Ogilvie and Hilton ), explained the Neolithic population explosion or whether some unexplained population growth forced humans to invent agriculture. Marxists would have to prove that it was female subordination, not farming, that caused the explosion, and that these changes reduced our labor.…”