Sponsored by: Archaeological Institute of America, Houston
An untold story about women in prehistory has emerged in recent decades, with provocative implications for our assumptions about gender today. Dr. James Adovasio shows how women’s roles in prehistory have often been undetected because many of their creations often used materials that were perishable. Critical innovations—including the tailored clothing necessary for life in colder climates, baskets for storage, ropes used to make rafts that enabled long-distance travel by water, and nets used for communal hunting—were often manufactured and used by women. Most importantly, evidence points to women playing a central role in the development of language and complex social interactions—in short, in our becoming human.