Exploring sexual division of labour at “Nitra Horné Krškany” cemetery using stone tool use-wear analysis, physical activity markers, diet, and mobility as proxies

Abstract

This paper aims to explore gender diversity and sexual division of labour at the beginning of farming through the study of one of the earliest Linearbandkeramik cemeteries in central Europe: Nitra (Slovakia). This topic is addressed by bringing out the nuance of the buried individuals' lifeways and taskways. Use-wear studies have been undertaken on both ground and flaked stone instruments deposited as grave goods, thus generating new data about the activities performed using these tools. The relationships between the artefact function and the buried individuals' sex, age and health condition have been addressed together with the isotopic and physical activity information related to the inhumated diet and mobility. Our results suggest a schema in which biological sex played a key role in task, lifeways and grave goods differentiation. These differences, however, presented significant overlaps, suggesting that biological sex was not all encompassing and that internal variations within sexes were indeed present, reflecting a complex tapestry of gender and, possibly, status relationships.