Neanderthal females fixed clothing while men made tools

A new study of Neanderthal teeth has discovered that our ancient cousins required women to do typical household chores, while also expecting them to hunt alongside men.

The study suggests women in the group were responsible for looking after furs and adjusting garments, while men had the task of improving stone tools.

Scientists at Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid analysed 99 incisors and canine teeth of 19 Neanderthals found at sites in Spain, France and Belgium.

The fossils in Spain dated back 100,000 years, in France 50,000 years, and in Belgium the ancient teeth were believed to be 44,000 years old.

Regardless of age, Neanderthals had dental grooves.

'This is due to the custom of these societies to use the mouth as a third hand, as in some current populations, for tasks such as preparing the furs or chopping meat, for instance,' said Antonio Rosas, CSIC researcher.

But the study found grooves present in the female fossils followed the same pattern, and were different to those found in male individuals.

'Therefore we assume that the tasks performed were different'.

The tiny nicks of the teeth enamel were also analysed.

Male individuals show a greater number of nicks in the enamel and dentin of the upper parts, while in female individuals these imperfections appear in the lower parts.

It is still unclear which activities corresponded to women and which ones to men.

However, the authors of the study note that, as in modern hunter-gatherer societies, women may have been responsible for the preparation of furs and the elaboration of garments.

Researchers state that the retouching of the edges of stone tools seems to have been a male task.

Almudena Estalrrich, CSIC researcher at the Spanish National Museum of Natural Sciences, adds: 'We believe that the specialisation of labour by sex of the individuals was probably limited to a few tasks.

'It is possible that both men and women participated equally in the hunting of big animals'.

'The study of Neanderthals has provided numerous discoveries in recent years,' Rosa adds.

'We have moved from thinking of them as little evolved beings, to know that they took care of the sick persons, buried their deceased, ate seafood, and even had different physical features than expected: there were redhead individuals, and with light skin and eyes.

'So far, we thought that the sexual division of labour was typical of sapiens societies, but apparently that's not true'.

(dailymail.co.uk)