🔗 Share this article

One widespread belief claims that in certain earlier periods of human history, females had similar status to men, or even ruled, resulting in happier and more peaceful societies. Subsequently, male-dominated systems emerged, ushering in ages of conflict and subjugation.

The Roots of the Matriarchy vs. Patriarchy Discussion

The concept of matriarchy and male-led societies as polar opposites—with a sudden transition between them—originated in the 19th century through socialist thought, entering anthropological studies with limited proof. From there, it permeated into public consciousness.

Social scientists, by contrast, were often less convinced. They observed great diversity in sex roles among cultures, both contemporary and historical ones, and many suspected that such variety was the norm in prehistory too. Proving this proved difficult, partly because determining biological sex—not to mention gender—was often tricky in old skeletons. Then around two decades back, that shifted.

The Breakthrough in Genetic Analysis

The much-touted genomics era—the capacity to extract DNA from ancient bones and study it—meant that suddenly it became possible to identify the sex of long-dead individuals and to examine their kinship ties. The chemical makeup of their bones and teeth—specifically, the proportion of isotopes present there—indicated whether they had resided in different locations and undergone dietary changes. The evidence emerging thanks to these advanced methods indicates that variety in gender relations was absolutely the norm in prehistory, and that there was no clear turning point when a particular model gave way to its mirror image.

Theories on the Emergence of Patriarchal Systems

The Marxist idea, in fact credited to Marx’s collaborator, suggested that early societies were egalitarian before farming spread from the Near East approximately 10,000 years ago. With the more sedentary lifestyle and accumulation of resources that farming introduced arose the need to defend that property and to establish laws for its inheritance. As populations expanded, men monopolised the leading groups that formed to manage these matters, partly because they were better at warfare, and assets passed to the paternal lineage. Male kin were additionally more likely to remain in place, with their wives moving to live with them. Women’s subordination was often a consequence of these shifts.

Another theory, proposed by archaeologist a Lithuanian scholar in the 1960s, was that female-oriented societies prevailed for an extended period in Europe—until five millennia back—after which they were overthrown by incoming, male-ruled migrants from the plains.

Evidence of Matrilineal Societies

Matrilinearity (where property is inherited through the female line) and matrilocality (where women remain in one place) frequently go together, and both are linked with higher women’s standing and authority. In 2017, American scientists reported that for over three centuries around the 10th century, an high-status mother-line group inhabited a canyon site, in modern-day New Mexico. Later, in a recent study, Asian researchers identified a matrilineal agricultural community that thrived for nearly as long in China’s east, over 3,000 years earlier. Such discoveries add to others, implying that matrilineal societies have existed on every populated continents, at least from the advent of farming on.

Power and Autonomy in Prehistoric Societies

But, even if they enjoy higher status, women in matrilineal societies may not hold decision-making power. This typically stays the preserve of men—specifically of maternal uncles rather than their husbands. And because ancient DNA and isotopes can’t tell you much about female agency, sex-based hierarchies in ancient times remain a subject of debate. Indeed, this line of work has prompted researchers to consider what they mean by power. If the female consort of a male ruler shaped his court through patronage and informal networks, and his decisions through advice, did she hold less influence than him?

Experts have identified several instances of couples sharing power in the bronze age—the era following those nomads came in the continent—and subsequent historical records confirm to high-status women shaping policies in similar manners, across the globe. Perhaps they acted similarly in the distant past. Females exerting indirect influence in male-dominated societies may even have predated Homo sapiens. In his recent publication about gender roles, Different, primatologist Frans de Waal described how an dominant female chimp, Mama, chose a replacement to the alpha male—her superior—with a gesture.

Elements Influencing Sex Roles

In recent years something else has become clear. Although Engels may have been generally right in linking property with male-line inheritance, additional elements affected gender relations, as well—such as how a community makes a living. Recently, Chinese and British researchers reported that traditionally matrilineal villages in Tibet have become more gender-neutral over the last 70 years, as they transitioned from an farming-based system to a market-oriented one. Conflict additionally has a role. Although female-resident and male-resident societies are equally warlike, notes anthropologist Carol Ember, internal strife—as opposed to battles against an external enemy—prods societies towards male residence, because fighting groups choose to have their sons close.

Women as Warriors and Leaders

Meanwhile, proof is mounting that women fought, pursued game and served as spiritual leaders in the ancient world. Not a single position or position has been closed to them in all times and places. And though women leaders may have been uncommon, they were not nonexistent. Recent ancient DNA findings from an Irish university show that there were at least instances of female-line descent throughout the British Isles, when ancient groups dominated the island in the metal period. Alongside archaeological evidence for women fighters and ancient descriptions of women leaders, it looks as if ancient European women could exercise hard as well as indirect power.

Contemporary Matrilineal Societies

Mother-line societies still exist today—a Chinese group are one case, as are the a Native American tribe of Arizona, heirs of those Chaco Canyon lineages. These communities are declining, as national governments flex their male-dominant muscles, but they act as reminders that certain vanished societies tilted closer to gender equality than numerous of our modern ones, and that all societies have the potential to change.