Researchers identified axeheads as male and disc rings as female in Neolithic symbolism—though disc rings never appear in Iberian Peninsula. At Mané Lud, an extremely long axe head butt end was found pointing through a disc ring in a deliberate composition. This symbolism extended to standing stones. Alpine disc rings had distinctive pointed triangular cross-sections and circulated from 5,000 to 4,500 BC.
Disc rings identified as feminine counterparts to masculine axeheads
Key facts
- Axeheads were identified as male and disc rings as female
- The distribution of disc rings did not match the distribution of axeheads
- No disc ring has been found in the Iberian Peninsula
- Alpine disc rings had distinctive pointed slender triangular cross-sections
- At Mané Lud, a disc ring was found with the butt end of an extremely long axe head pointing through it in a suggestive manner
- This male/female symbolism was reproduced on standing stones
- The currency of disc rings was from 5,000 BC to around 4,500 BC, later than the inception of axe circulation
Sources
Stone Age women were buried with as many tools as menpopsci.com
The team also found that women were just as likely, if not more so, to be buried with stone tools than men. This flies in the face of a ...
The Neolithic precedents of gender inequality - EurekAlert!eurekalert.org
Researchers from the University of Seville have published an ambitious study of gender inequality in prehistoric Iberia.
An Archaeological Discovery in Spain Could Turn Ideas About ...news.artnet.com
A funerary marker discovered in a dig at the necropolis at Cañaveral de León may upend some assumptions about ancient gender roles.
Roles of women and men in Neolithic Europe were gendered but ...phys.org
At both sites, male skeletons, unlike female ones, showed recurrent lesions on the dominant arm linked to physical tasks such as throwing or ...
News - Study in Spain Investigates Neolithic Gender Inequalityarchaeology.org
The study indicates that men were more likely to be buried with arrowheads and other projectiles, and more likely to have signs of injury or violent death.
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