quote:
Originally posted by DragonMage:
Boy oh boy, MagiK, hon...you DO know how to stir the pot. 
[img]tongue.gif[/img]
For the record:
Epona, I have the same 'historical knowledge' that MagiK seems to have. Any history books I've ever read talk only about male-dominated society in most early man societies. I know there were some document matriarchal societies, but I have read of only a scattered few.
I'm not talking about history though, that's the point. You can't look in any history book to find solid facts about pre-history - you couldn't 50 years ago, and you can't now - all you can have is interpretation and opinion - the evidence is archaeological. And I can be just as much of a troublemaker....
Evidence from recent archaeological research suggests that early man, before the invention of spears or ploughs, relied mostly on scavanging and foraging for subsistence. For example, animal bones found with cut marks from basic stone tools cutting through tooth marks from predator animals suggests that early tool-using hominids weren't bringing down their own prey at all, but were cutting pieces of meat from carcasses at the stage of consumption where probably the only creatures around the body were scavenging birds - you don't need a heavy muscular frame to do this, whereas with hunting it could be an advantage.
I include a whole list of references below concerning early hominid subsistence patterns, I was holding out because it was fun to watch Magik posting frantically, but after such a nice request Dragonmage, here we go....
_________________
Selvaggio, Marie: "Carnivore Tooth Marks and Stone Tool Butchery Marks on Scavenged Bones: Archaeological Implications." Journal of Human Evolution 27: 215-228
Selvaggio: "From Noble Hunters to Carrion Robbers: The Evolution of the Scavenging Model of Early Hominid Subsistence." Crosscurrents 1: 33-47
Selvaggio: "Evidence for a three stage sequence of hominid and carnivore involvement with long bones at FLK Zinjanthnopus, Olduvai Gorge Tanzania." Journal of Archaeological Science, Academic Press
Selvaggio, with R. J. Blumenschine. "On the Marks of Marrow Bones by Hammerstones and Hyenas: Their Anatomical Patterning and Archaeological Implications." In Cultural Beginnings: Approaches to Understanding Early Hominid Life-Ways in the African Savanna, edited by J. Desmond Clark.
Isotopic Evidence for the Diet of an Early Hominid, Australopithecus africanus: Matt Sponheimer, Julia A. Lee-Thorp, Science Jan 15 1999: 368-370.
Sept, Jeanne: 1994 Beyond bones: archaeological sites, early hominid subsistence, and the costs and benefits of exploiting wild plant foods in east African riverine landscapes. Journal of Human Evolution 27: 295-320
Sept, Jeanne: 1992 Archaeological evidence and ecological perspectives for reconstructing early hominid subsistence strategies. In Archaeological Method and Theory Volume 4: 1-56 M.B. Schiffer (ed) U. Arizona Press