Archaeogenetics: Gender in the Stone Age: Unfair distribution of deficiency

According to popular science, people skyrocket within their genetic potential as soon as the nutritional basis is secured. When the archaeologist Eva Rosenstock measured the body lengths of people in Europe and the Near East between 10,000 and 1000 BC a few years ago as part of a research program at the Free University of Berlin. documented, however, there was no clear picture of the connection between diet and body size.

Together with the archaeogeneticist Iain Mathieson from the University of Pennsylvania, Rosenstock initiated the transdisciplinary research project “Present Pasts”. For this they chose the group of farmers who came from the Near East between 8000 and 6000 BC. CE had spread to central and southern Europe. The genetic differences were very small because they came from a common area of ​​origin and the groups only traveled different hiking trails along the Mediterranean coast or the Danube. In total, the skeletons of 266 individuals from the Balkans and the Mediterranean coasts and 1282 from Central Europe were analyzed. The difference in numbers is due to the fact that the Linear Pottery culture to which the individuals belonged has been very well researched. However, Eva Rosenstock herself pointed out that the quantitative difference could also lead to distortions.

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Women in the north are significantly smaller

The skeletons were first examined according to gender distribution, which was determined either via DNA or skeletal morphology. The health and nutritional status was determined by the stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes in the skeletons. These indicators allow conclusions to be drawn about periods of stress caused by malnutrition or illness. By analyzing the DNA, the archaeogeneticists involved were able to determine the so-called polygenetic score, which was intended to predict the expected size of each individual under optimal conditions.

The theoretical growth potential was compared with the skeletal measurements. A pattern emerged here that surprised the research group: While the gender differences in the farming groups in the Balkans and along the Mediterranean coasts were only small, the men in the northern groups were significantly larger than the women, even though the food was the same in all cases.

One explanation lies in the new environmental conditions. The living conditions in the Mediterranean and the Balkans were very similar to those in the ancient homeland of the Near East; Things looked different north of the Alps. The results prompted the research group to divide the settlers into two groups again in order to make the results geographically clear. The border between the north and south groups was drawn along the Luxembourg–Frankfurt–Bayreuth line. The conditions for growing crops were significantly worse north of this line than south of it, but for both groups the farmers first had to adapt their crops to the harsher conditions of Central Europe. The grains and garden plants came from the Mediterranean region, which had a milder climate. Crop failures and starvation were common.

Can only be explained sociologically

However, the periods of hunger affected the genders differently. If everyone ate the same food and had to adapt to the same climate, why were women significantly smaller than men? According to the researchers, this cannot be explained archaeologically, but only sociologically. That is why the research group refers to the theory of the socio-economic-political-emotional environment. This describes that it is not just genetics and nutrition that determine body stature.

The researchers conclude that the frequent periods of scarcity led farming groups to allocate more food and care to boys and men. They received more and better food for their role as breadwinners for the family. Clearing and cultivating new fields was hard physical labor because the plow had not yet been invented. In addition, the young girls left their families early and married into other groups. So economically speaking they were a loss to the community. In addition, they had children and breastfed during puberty, which drained their physical resources. However, the researchers emphasize that this theory requires further investigation, for example on children’s skeletons.

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