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Most Cave Paintings Were Painted By Women, Says Penn State Researcher
barlevg writes "Analyzing hand-prints found in cave sites, an archaeologist from Penn State University has concluded that roughly 75% of all ancient cave art was painted by women. Previously it was thought that neolithic cave paintings were made mostly by men, perhaps to chronicle their kills. But an analysis of the relative lengths of fingers in hand stencils found on cave walls suggests that it was mostly prehistoric women--not men--who created these works."
Anthropologists debung male-centric myths, tech site breeds tens of sexist-joke comments.
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Sexual division of labor does occur quite regularly in other mammals, although it doesn't necessarily fall into the same division across species. The primary factor behind it was likely the result of the differing economics of risk and a few other factors. Humans are omnivores, so meat and plants make for useful food sources, meaning that there are reasons to both hunt and to gather. Hunting is dangerous and has a high chance of failure, but men can survive at lower body fat percentages because they don't have a baby factory to maintain, and one male can impregnate several females, so a male dying is less of a blow to the population. After these roles were established, traits that were useful for these divided roles were selected for if not already present, as they would be a more desirable mate.
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