The arrival of farming changed and diverged the lifeways of men and women when it spread across Central Europe around 5500 cal. BC, involving important economic, political and ideological transformations that had an impact on how gender was constructed and experienced. Yet, the relationship between this episode and the changes in women’s role within the communities and its importance in the long-term social changes that lead to Bronze Age patriarchal forms of organization remains unclear. Usewear analysis, that is the study of the past uses of tools through surface microscopic examination, has been applied to both ground and flaked stone instruments from the some of the most significant North Carpathian Basin cemeteries. By studying and comparing the activities performed by men and women in these first farming communities I want to contribute to explore the possible onset of sexual inequalities between genders.

Peer reviewed