Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic?
Exploring Relationships Between Sexes/Genders
at the Cemetery of Vedrovice Using Use-Wear
Analysis, Diet and Mobility
Alba Masclans Latorre1
& Penny Bickle2
& Caroline Hamon3
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
This paper aims to address relations between sexes at the start of farming in Europe,
particularly through studying the funerary practices of one of the most important North
Carpathian Basin Neolithic cemeteries: the site of Vedrovice (Moravia,
Czech Republic), considered to be the first Linearbandkeramik (LBK) cemetery
documented to date. In order to approach the relationships between women, children
and men at the dawn of agriculture, use-wear studies have been undertaken on both
ground and flaked stone instruments deposited as grave goods, thus generating new
data about the activities performed using these tools. Furthermore, the relationship
between sex, age, health condition and spatial distribution has also been addressed
together with the isotopic information related to diet and mobility. The results suggest
that sexes were valued differently in death. Unequal farming and/or hunting product
distribution between the sexes and between women of different origin has been
observed as well as higher tool and ornaments accumulation in male burials and a
marked sexual differentiation of the male and female spheres of production represented
through the stone funerary tools. A discussion is made around the possible interpretation
of this result in terms of presence/absence of sexual inequalities.
Keywords Linearbandkeramik . Early Neolithic . Use-wear analysis . Gender . Sex .
Funerary archaeology . Vedrovice
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-020-09453-y
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-020-
09453-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
* Alba Masclans Latorre
alba.masc@gmail.com
1
Institució Milà i Fontanals (CSIC-IMF), C/Egipciaques 15, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
2
Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, England
3
UMR 8215 Trajectoires, French National Centre for Scientific Research, Paris, France
Introduction
On the basis of Beauvoirian ontology embodied in the well-known phrase ‘On ne naît
pas femme, on le devient’ (Beauvoir 1949), gender was long ago acknowledged to be a
cultural construct that changes throughout time (Butler 1993; Irigaray 1985). More
recently, the same has been applied to the concept of ‘sex’ (Butler 2009; Preciado
2002), which has been assumed to represent a socially constructed identity established
based on biological and social criteria. This last proposal, however, creates certain
analytical problems in archaeology. We need a language to discuss the categories
created by skeletal, and increasingly aDNA, analysis. Therefore, ‘gender’ will be used
hereinafter to refer to the cultural attributes and ‘sex’ to the predominant biological
differences, as a starting point from which to determine how strongly the latter is
expressed in the former.
Over the last decades, Gender Archaeology, Marxist Archaeology and Queer
Archaeology have been addressing relationships and historical changes between
sexes/genders (Arnold 2006; Berrocal 2009; Bolger 2013; Conkey and Spector 1984;
Berrocal 2009; Ehrenberg 1989; Gero and Conkey 1991; Montón-Subías and Meyer
2014; Sanahuja 2002; Turek 2017; Voss 2000; Wylie 2007).
However, it has been recently argued that gender during the European Neolithic has
not received the necessary attention required to gain a proper understanding of its
cultural contents (Robb and Harris 2018). Unlike the mainly binary (male/female)
gender structure developed in Europe from the Bronze Age onwards, evidence from
the Neolithic does not reveal homogeneous patterns of differentiation suggesting
strictly binary gender identities, even if gender was generally acknowledged (Ibidem).
This makes sense in the context of Neolithisation, which brought about significant
changes and social consequences for thousands of communities in a relatively short
period of time. A fragmented patchwork of heterogeneous gender identities could be
the result of such a collective process of multiple social changes across Europe changes
which were not the result of a planned centralised political operation. What
would be thus required to characterise gender during the Neolithic is, in the first place,
the use of categories adjusted to particular contextual characteristics of every society
(Barquer et al. 2012). The lack of this type of historicised and local evidence
strengthens the need to find alternative ways of recording the creation and manifestation
of sexual identity (Bickle 2019).
In this paper, attention is focused on Linearbandkeramik (LBK) contexts, especially
funerary contexts, which show more distinct binary gender patterning than elsewhere in
the European Neolithic. Sexual relationships have been addressed in this area during
the last four decades, ensuring the possibility to open a deep and meaningful discussion
on the subject.
Skeletal and isotopic analyses have shown that men and women were carrying out
different habitual activities, had different diets and mobility patterns (Röder 1998;
Bentley et al. 2012; Bickle and Whittle 2013). The grave goods assemblages signalled
that differences were recognised in the material cultures of these communities between
sexes, reaching a consensus by which biologically female-sexed skeletons could
receive a wider and less sex-determined range of grave goods than their male-sexed
counterparts, who were more frequently buried with identity markers, such as polished
and bevelled artefacts (hereinafter ‘PBAs’), arrows, bone/antler items and fire lighting
Masclans Latorre et al.
sets (Van de Velde 1979; Jeunesse 1997; Hedges et al. 2013; Nordholz 2015; Augereau
2018, 2019; Müller-Scheeßel 2019). A recent study has concluded that there was
diversity and fluidity in female identities, while male identities had more limited
possibilities and were subject to more social constraints (Bickle 2019).
According to strontium analyses, PBAs appeared almost systematically among
grave goods assemblages of locally born males (Bickle and Whittle 2013; Bentley
et al. 2012). Consequently, it has been suggested that ground stone axes and adzes
played a prominent role as symbolic items of status in what has been considered a
patrilocal system (Eisenhauer 2003; Bentley 2007). This, in turn, has led to the
hypothesis that the funerary sphere was more concerned with emphasising male
lineages rather than with how and whether gender (male, female) was constructed/
evidenced (Hedges et al. 2013).
In the light of the foregoing, the symbolic representation of a female-male binarism
appears plausible in LBK funerary contexts, even if a more rich and variable range of
gender possibilities may have coexisted to a lesser extent. However, the sexual roles
and their variability is still far from having been characterised. Furthermore, it is
undeniable that only individuals belonging to the female sex have the capacity to bear
children and that this capacity must have acted as a strong cultural marker that must be
explored. What is more, the objective conditions that may have led to sexual differentiation
and, if present, to sexual inequalities have not yet been analysed using a broad
and systematic approach.
One of the ways to gain more insight into sexual roles and inequalities can be built
around two groups of empirical indicators: demography and living conditions on the
one hand, and funerary practices on the other (Cintas-Peña and Sanjuán 2019). The first
of these two groups of indicators involve in-depth knowledge of the buried individuals’
biology and biography based on bioarchaeological or anthropological data. Funerary
practices include variables such as the architectural features of the burials, their spatial
organisation, the position and orientation of the body and the characteristics of the
grave goods.
In this paper, special attention is given to exploring the presence of sexually
differentiated work organisation through the study of those grave goods that can
provide information about the activities potentially performed by the buried individuals.
Associations between sex and productive activities have been successfully
established in other Neolithic archaeological contexts (Masclans et al. 2019;
Duboscq 2017), whereby grave goods were considered to be representative of the
buried individuals’ former belongings, gifts from mourners, or a symbolic representation
of the activities related to the identity of the deceased (Arnold 2006; Hamlin 2001).
Binfordian isomorphism between social organisation and mortuary ceremonialism
(Binford 1972) is adopted with caution when considering the social management of
death, bearing in mind the possible bias resulting from post-depositional factors, as well
as from potential ceremonial concealments of status, gender or other social hierarchies.
If a positive statistical relationship between a sexual group and the instruments
deposited with them is established, the possibility that such a relationship can be
interpreted as evidence of the activities performed by, or associated with, the different
sexes during their lives will be considered, as the community will undoubtedly have
considered them to be related to the identity of the deceased individual and therefore,
partly, to the tasks undertaken by the dead whilst alive.
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
Accordingly, if one can determine the prehistoric uses of the tools, there is a chance
to reveal which activities were recurrently associated with social groups for reasons of
sex, age or other hierarchies. This is a significant step in determining the extent of the
division of labour based on an individual’s sex/age or, rather, the community’s
understanding of that individual’s sex/age at death. From the strength of the division
of labour, more qualitative interpretations about the values placed on those tasks, and
how they were incorporated into modes of social differentiation, such as an unequal
hierarchy between the sexes/genders, can be developed.
A first step aimed at resolving the above questions was to perform a full use-wear
analysis of the flaked and polished and bevelled tools recovered from the Vedrovice
cemetery (Moravia, Czech Republic). Vedrovice is one of the most significant sites of
the LBK horizon as radiocarbon dating has suggested it is one of the first cemeteries in
the North Carpathian Basin. Studying its contexts can provide a better insight into the
first funerary practices of the early farming communities.
Vedrovice’s site was published by Podborský’s (2002) in an extensive and detailed
monography which is the basis on which all further studies have been built on the site.
Due to its historical significance and thanks to the cemetery good level of documentation
and preservation, this site has been included in several prominent international
projects (Vedrovice Project, Lifeways Project) and leading scientific publications on the
field of bioarchaeology (Bramanti 2008; Lillie 2008; Richards et al. 2008; Smrčka
et al. 2005, 2008; Whittle et al. 2013; Jorasová and Tvrdy 2017; Frayer 2004;
Dočkalová 2008), making it one of the best studied sites of the European Early
Neolithic.
Studies of the PBA materials have been conducted by Salaš (2002) which performed
an in-depth analysis of the artefacts morphometrical and weigh characteristics as well
as pointed out the presence of used and unused PBAs and their possible hafting
systems. Furthermore, Mateiciucová’s (2008) study of the chipped tools suggested that
imported flaked lithic raw materials, mainly corresponding to arrowheads, were found
in male burials, while flaked items recorded in female burials were always made of
local raw material, signalling that men were involved in contact with distant regions.
Other analyses are still to be applied on lithic materials. For instance, determining
the past uses of the lithic tools found in grave goods assemblages can shed a light on
multiple possibilities still to be found regarding the sex and age differentiations in those
early farming communities. Use-wear analysis of stone tools has been proven to be a
reliable methodology that provides evidence of people’s past activities as well as of
their cultural performances (Odell and Odell Vereecken 1980; Vaughan 1985;
Gonzalez and Ibáñez 1994; Adams et al. 2009; Lewis et al. 2011). Thanks to these
studies, significant contributions have been made to better understand Early Neolithic
lifeways by determining the spatial distribution of activities, both within and between
settlements (Hamon 2008; Van Gijn and Mazzucco 2013; Mazzucco et al. 2018).
Important as this technique is to archaeology, it has been little used in
Linearbandkeramik contexts, resulting in a scarcity of functional characterisations of
stone artefacts. Particularly overlooked are grave goods assemblages. As a result,
assumptions about what activities stone tools represent when used as grave goods
persist. This is especially the case when considering the identity of the deceased with
whom they are buried, with the application of binary genders strongly debated and
critiqued (e.g. the Schwanfeld ‘hunter’; cf. Gronenborn 2003 and Bickle and Fibiger
Masclans Latorre et al.
2014, 211). We hope to shed further light on these debates, by presenting the first
complete micro-wear analysis of an LBK cemetery.
Objectives
The first objective of this paper is to explore the way in which differences between
sexes were evidenced in Vedrovice through an analysis of the grave goods and their
spatial distribution. The following are explored: the presence of relationships between
sexed human remains (i.e. male/female) and the grave goods distribution (including
bone and stone tools, pottery vessels and ornaments) as well as the range of activities
represented by the stone tools found in the graves. This information is obtained through
the quantification and spatial localisation of the grave goods along with the use-wear
analysis and technological characterisation of the tools.
The second objective of this paper is to explore the presence of possible sexual
differences in daily life practices (health, mobility and diet) in order to further understand
how identities in life may—or may not—have been represented in death. Firstly,
the presence of groups of sexed remains (male/female) or groups of age are examined
in the isotope data, with a focus on isotopes relating to protein consumption and
mobility. This information is to be obtained by analysing the available nitrogen and
strontium data through the aid of statistical analyses. Secondly, in order to explore
whether sexually distinctive patterns were directly related to the type of diet, care and
infant nutrition, statistical analyses of male and female metabolic diseases and dental
decay are also performed.
The third objective is to open a discussion around whether sex was an explanatory
factor of health, mobility, diet, spatial organisation of the burials and the variability of
the functional characteristics of the grave goods. An attempt will thus be made at
finding patterns between sexed remains and the presence of groups that combine
regular distributions of the mentioned variables, in order to distinguish gender from
other explanatory factors of the material record, such as age, social hierarchies not
related to sex or cultural identities.
Materials and Methods
A multi-proxy approach is taken in this paper, based on two groups of empirical
indicators: those revealing the living conditions of the studied community (demography,
sex ratios, diet, mobility, pathologies and stress makers) and the funerary practices
(grave goods and spatial organisation of the burials).
The isotopic raw data have mainly been collected from ‘Lifeways project’ Open
Access database (available on request from Dr. Penny Bickle:
penny.bickle@york.ac.uk) as well as from several publications on the matter (Richards
et al. 2008; Zvelebil and Pettitt 2008; Smrčka et al. 2008; Whittle et al. 2013). A
database containing all the values of the skeletons sampled by other research teams has
been created (Online Resource 2. Database, Table 3) and subjected to further analysis.
The main methodological technique used during the artefactual analysis was usewear
analysis conducted by surface microscopic techniques. The examination was
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
performed at × 10–200 magnifications under a metallographic microscope and a
stereomicroscope. Images were procured using a Canon EOS1100D camera and
multifocal assemblage using Helicon Focus software. The cleaning procedures included
washing the artefacts with soap and water. When an object had a concretion of
calcareous nature adhered to it, the artefact was left submerged in a 10% aqueous NaCl
solution in an ultrasonic machine for at least 5 min. This procedure was repeated until
the residue was completely removed.
Polished bevelled artefacts were analysed in accordance with the methods and
techniques suggested in Masclans et al. (2017a) and Masclans et al. (2017b), using
the macro-lithic tool experimental reference collection developed by Masclans (2020).
The flaked tools were studied following the standards proposed by Clemente Conte
(1997), Gonzalez and Ibáñez (1994), Keeley (1980) and Vaughan (1985). To support
our functional interpretations, the experimental reference collection of flint, quartz and
quartzite deposited at the ADS Laboratory of Microscopy (Spanish National Research
Council - Mila i Fontanals Institute) was used.
Vedrovice: Contextual Data, Demography and Funerary Pattern
Vedrovice is located in Southern Moravia (Czech Republic) at the base of the Bohemian
Massif, between the rivers Dyje (south) and Jihlava (north) (Fig. 1). The site
comprises a settlement and a cemetery, including three different burial areas: the
settlement (‘Sidliště’), a grave cluster known as ‘Za dvorem’ in the south of the
cemetery and the cemetery named ‘Široká u Lesa’. According to the grave descriptions
in Podborský’s (2002) and Dočkalová (2008), 84 preserved burials have been identified
at ‘Široká u Lesa’, 10 burials at ‘Sidliště’, and 8 at ‘Za dvorem’, making a total of 102
burials (Online Resource 2. Database, Tables 1 and 3).
The graves are those characteristics of LBK burial practices: generally oval, dug
directly in the ground, where the bodies were inhumed individually, generally crouched
on the left side (70% of the cases) (Podborský 2002). The grave goods at Vedrovice
generally consist of ornaments (Spondylus beads, pendants and medallions, snails, as
well as marble beads and animal teeth), PBAs, flint blades and fragments, pottery
vessels, pebbles possibly used as utensils, bone tools, antler items, ochre blocks, ochre
powder, as well as a group of objects generally referred to as ‘grinding tools’, whose
precise usage is yet to be determined.
A set of 42 radiocarbon dates from 35 burials have recently been published and
discussed (Griffiths 2013; Pettitt and Hedges 2008). Thus, 34.3% of the total of
Vedrovice burials have now been dated, all of which are located in the ‘Široká u Lesa’
sector (41.6% of which is dated). It is therefore currently not possible to ascertain the
precise chronological relationship between the three major sectors of the site on the
basis of C14 dates, nor the internal chronology of all the sectors. Therefore, this paper
will relate exclusively to the archaeological record of the only chronologically reliable
sector: ‘Široká u Lesa’.
In order to determine any chronological discontinuities within the ‘Široká u Lesa’
occupation as well as an accurate duration of burial, a ‘contiguous phase’ Bayesian
model was used (Bronk Ramsey 2009; Lee and Bronk Ramsey, 2012, b). The results
suggest that there were no temporal discontinuities within the site (Amodel index:
Masclans Latorre et al.
129.1) and that the occupation span was about 13–188 years (95.4% probable),
beginning between 5315 and 5224 cal BC and ending between 5215 and
5110 cal BC (2 σ) (see raw C14 data and statistical modelling details in Online
Resource 1. Chronology). What makes these results remarkable is the fact that the site
offers an opportunity to explore the funerary practices of a very short and specific
period, spanning across 1 to 7 generations at most.
In order to obtain an accurate overview of the age and sex ranges of the individuals
buried at ‘Široká u Lesa’, anthropological data retrieved from Lillie’s (2008) study was
rearranged according to the age classification criteria proposed by White et al. (2011)
and Schaefer et al. (2009) (Table 1, Fig. 2). On the basis of the contextual information
found in Podborský (2002), we decided to remove 12 burials from the database
(Online Resource 2. Database, Table 3) due to preservation problems, keeping a total
86 individuals distributed in 84 graves to be studied. Only in two cases could a double
burial be identified, corresponding in both cases to a young female skeleton buried with
a perinatal baby (burials 81/79 and 93/80).
Two significant topics arise from the observation of the age and sex patterns (see
Table 1). In the first place, considering that the infant mortality rate in Prehistory is
about 40–50% (Rinne 2001) the low percentage of non-adults at Vedrovice (around
24%) indicates a clear under-representation of this age group (Lillie 2008).The second
and most striking feature of the demography is the lower number of mature adults and
senile male individuals in comparison to females of the same age (Table 1). These
exceptional numbers could be explained either by the fact that only a small proportion
of the community’s males lived a settled life or by the presence of differential access to
certain funerary practices defined by sex. Female migration has also been considered as
a factor explaining the higher proportion of females to males (Chamberlain 2006).
Fig. 1 Location of the Vedrovice site in its regional and European context
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
Mobility is indeed a key topic to understand the LBK lifeways and is further discussed
later in this paper through the analysis of strontium isotope data (vide infra). However,
resolving the question as to who was moving and why, should include a thorough
review of the sex rates among all the contemporaneous sites in the region.
As the plan (Fig. 3) illustrates, age and sex appear to influence where in the cemetery
an individual was buried. While female burials are distributed across the whole area of
the cemetery, the male appeared to fall within a more restricted pattern. The male
skeletons distribution is quite compact, along a continuous straight axis from the southwest
to the east of the cemetery. They are found isolated, in clusters (between 2 and 3
graves) and, more rarely, close to females. Non-adult individuals are mainly situated to
the right of the male axis, close to one another and/or to female burials (Fig. 3). Female
skeletons are found both isolated and in clusters, occasionally close to men and nonadult
individuals. Furthermore, mature adult females tend to be distributed at the centre/
south of the cemetery, while senile, young adult and juvenile females were buried along
Table 1 Age and sex ranges of the individuals buried at ‘Široká u Lesa’: Perinatal (birth–3 months), non-adult
1 (up to 3 years), non-adult 2 (3–12 years), juvenile (12–20 years), young adult (20–35 years), mature adult
(35–50 years), senile (50+ years)
Sex/age Female Non-adult/unsexed Male Total
Perinatal 0 2 0 2
Non-adult 1 0 3 0 3
Non-adult 2 0 12 0 12
Juvenile 3 4 1 8
Young adult 12 1 11 24
Adult 5 2 2 9
Mature adult 14 0 5 19
Senile 7 0 2 9
Total 41 24 21 86
Fig. 2 Graph displaying the age and sex ranges of the individuals buried at ‘Široká u Lesa’
Masclans Latorre et al.
the borders, suggesting that not only sex, but also age, were influencing choices relating
to female burial.
Use-Wear and Technological Analysis Results
Sampling
Eighty-seven lithic tools were selected for use-wear analysis, which included all the
stone tools documented as grave goods at the site. Of that assemblage, 7 tools were
absent from the museum at the time the study was performed: 69/78 (13152), 46/77
(13099), 19/75 (13026, 13027 and 13,028), 10/89 (13319), 79/79 (13188) and 8/88
(13279). Ten stone tools were excluded from the sample because it was impossible to
Fig. 3 Vedrovice cemetery plan illustrating the spatial organisation of male, female and non-adult burials. The
plan is a revised version based on Podborský (2002: 16) and Lillie’s (2008) sexual determination. Graves not
reliably attributed to the LBK horizon have been disregarded
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
ascertain their association with the buried individual: burials 80/79 (13191), 91/80
(13224, 13225 and 13226), 73/79 (13169), 86/80 (13213), 65/78 (13138), burial 108/
84 (13247), and burial 12/74 (13003).
This reduced the sample size to 68 stone artefacts, all from the Široká u Lesa’
cemetery. The results and contextual details can be found in Online Resource 2.
Database, Table 1. Of the total 68 analysed tools, 47 were flaked artefacts, 39 of which
were interpreted as projectiles, 18 items were PBAs and 2 were pebbles.
As a result of the schistose nature of the PBA raw materials, the preservation of the
active surface was generally good enough to make an approximation of what materials
the tools were used on, though identifying specific activities and particularities of the
worked materials presented a greater challenge. The flaked artefacts’ surfaces preservation
was very good, without significant postdepositional alterations that could
prevent our analysis.
The Flaked Non-projectiles
The non-projectile flaked items are found in 7 burials containing 1 (14/75, 15/75, 43/
77, 62/78, 66/78, 76/79) and 2 (79/79) items (Fig. 4). The prevalence of this tool type is
therefore rather low, present in 6.8% of the total of the Vedrovice graves, and 8.3% of
the ‘Široká u Lesa’ sector. They can be found in burials belonging to 5 men between 14
and 40 years old and 2 women between 30 and 45 years old. In the two female burials,
the flaked item was placed in the upper-right area of the grave, whereas no such
patterning could be determined for the male graves. A similar difference could also be
seen in the raw materials. While local Krumlovský Les II (KL II) chert was found in
both male and female graves, imported Krakow Jurassic silicate was only associated
with male burials (according to Mateiciucová’s 2008 determination).
The main types of flaked flint artefacts are blades (6 items) (Fig. 4, Table 2), which
are predominantly associated to male individuals. Some differences have been found
between male and female tools measurements although the sample is too small to
suggest any generalisable pattern. Still, the observed differences between the male and
female measures are thought-provoking and it would thus be interesting to contrast
these with the results of a larger scale study.
The use-wear analysis determined that in 3 cases, the item was not used, while in 4
(3 males, 1 female), use could be confirmed, though only in two cases could the
specific activity be ascertained: male burials 43/77 (object 13077) (Fig. 4A) and 79/79
(object 13180) (Fig. 4G). These items demonstrated evidence of transversal movement
against hard animal matter. Both tools have a length greater than 35 mm. Again, it is
not possible to define patterns based on the available sample.
The Projectiles
The remainder of the flaked flint tools correspond to the so-called trapezes or projectile
points. A total of 35 projectiles and 4 items likely to have been projectiles were found
in 8 burials: 1 item in burials 37/76, 54/78 and 66/78, 2 items in 59/78, 5 items in 79/79,
7 items in 57/78, 8 items in 39/76 and 14 items in 46/77 (Fig. 5). All the projectiles are
concentrated in the ‘Široká u Lesa’ sector, in 7.8% of the total Vedrovice graves, and
8.3% of the ‘Široká u Lesa’ sector. Mateiciucová (2008) determined that the majority of
Masclans Latorre et al.
these projectiles were made of exogenous raw materials, mostly Krakow Jurassic
silicate.
In 7 cases, the trapezes accompanied a male individual, while in one case, a 5-yearold
(39/76) received this item. When multiple trapezes were found in one grave, they
were placed closely together in all cases but one: burial (46/77), where there are two
assemblages of 7 and 8 items (Fig. 5C, D). In some cases, the assemblages present
similar colour and texture characteristics (Fig. 5C–E), suggesting that the same or very
Fig. 4 Flaked flint tools from Vedrovice. (A) Burial 43/77 (tool 13077), (B) burial 14/75 (tool 13007), (C)
burial 15/75 (tool 13016), (D) burial 62/78 (tool 13135), (E) burial 66/78 (tool 13142), (F) burial 76/79 (tool
13173), (G) burial 79/97 (tool 13180), (H) burial 79/97 (tool 13034)
Table 2 The non-projectile flaked tools and their contextual, technological, metric and functional
characteristics
Burial Code Sex Age Description Specific raw materials Length Width Category
14/75 13007 F 35–45 Fragment KL II chert 33 13 Indeterminable
15/75 13016 M 35–40 Blade fg Krakow Jurassic silicate 33 1 Not used
43/77 13077 M 14 Blade fg KL I chert 52 17 Used tool
62/78 13135 F 30–40 Blade fg KL II chert 24 12 Used tool
66/78 13142 M 30–35 Blade Krakow Jurassic silicate 59 13 Not used
76/79 13173 M 30–35 Blade KL I chert 46 17 Used tool
79/79 13180 M 25–35 Blade fg Indeterminable 36 15 Used tool
79/79 13034 M 25–35 Fragment Indeterminable 30 16 Not used
fg fragment
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
similar source cores were used. In 4 cases, the tools were placed in the left and right
medial zone of the grave, while in one case, these were located in the upper left part,
and in 3 cases, in the lower left, demonstrating a general preference for the left side of
the grave.
There is a clear preference for fragments of blades, either retouched (15 items) or not
(11 items), while flake fragments (10 items) and indeterminate fragments (3 items) are
less abundant. The sample is quite homogeneous in size, both in terms of the whole
Fig. 5 Projectiles from Vedrovice. (A) Burial 79 (tools 13182-185); (B) burial 57 (tools 13118-124), (C)
burial 46/77 (tools 13094-98 and 13100); (D) burial 46/77 (tools 13086-93); (E) burial 39/76 (tools 13065-68
and 13072); (F) burial 37/76 (tool 13062); (G) burial 54/78 (tool 13115), (H) burial 59/78 (tools 13131-32), (I)
Burial 66/78 (tool 813143). The technical drawings of the arrowheads can be consulted at Mateiciucová
(2008: 321–326).
Masclans Latorre et al.
projectile assemblage and each burial. Lengths vary from 8 to 20 mm, though there is a
concentration between 12 and 13 mm. The width varies from 9 to 23 mm, with the
majority of tools falling between 13 and 15 mm. Again, the raw material from which
the projectiles were made was identified by Mateiciucová (2008) as either Krakow
Jurassic silicate or KL II chert.
Gibaja and Palomo (2004: 91) identified four different traces that could be considered
as evidence of use in the case of trapezes used as projectiles: fractures derived
from impact, striation derived from impact, micro-chipping derived from impact and
micro-polishes derived from contact with hard materials, possibly bone of the aimed
target, not to mention the evidence for hafting. Being aware of the concerns about
distinguishing production and use wear features (Rots and Plisson 2014), the microscopic
observation of Vedrovice projectiles did not offer any evidence of use. On this
basis, we consider that either those tools may have been made specifically with the
intention of being deposited as grave goods or there was a specific selection of daily
items in a very good state of preservation.
In summary, a certain degree of morphometrical and technical standardisation has
been identified among the projectiles. Those tools were made specifically for the
purpose of being deposited as grave goods, and, given their shared raw material
characteristics, it is very plausible that they had been made soon before being buried.
The Polished and Bevelled Artefacts
Eighteen PBAs were distributed among 17 graves (Table 3) and are present in 20.9% of
the burials in ‘Široká u Lesa’. Thirteen PBAs were associated with male adult individuals
between 20 and 50 years old, 1 with an unsexed adult and 1 with a woman (grave
31/76). Three children were buried with a PBA: two individuals between 12 and
14 years old and one 6 years old. Significantly, the PBAs found in the three nonadult
and female graves are distinctly different from those buried with male adults, in
terms of dimensions, shape and uses (vide infra). Tool 13057 (burial 36/76) (Table 3), a
proximal and medial part of a PBA which was re-used as a hide scraper, has been
treated separately from the rest, as it cannot be considered a PBA but rather a
repurposed tool.
The raw material characteristics are quite homogeneous. All the artefacts are made
of metamorphic rocks, particularly amphibolite, displaying a planar structure, generally
oriented parallel to the vertical axis of the artefacts. This similarity of raw material
qualities indicates intentionality and uniformity in the selection and conformation of the
blanks in relation to the expected mechanical and aesthetic attributes of the tools.
Furthermore, PBAs have very homogeneous technological features, all being whole,
completely polished artefacts with a general absence of fresh pecking and proximal
area extractions, as well as displaying generally very finely polished finishes. All the
amphibolite adzes exhibited evidence of the negatives of roughout flaking. Subsequently,
it can thus be assumed that flaking was performed to shape the raw material
into blanks, prior to the final polishing of the surface.
The macroscopic observation of the hafted surfaces found 8 artefacts with evidence
of transversal striation (multiple or isolated) perpendicular to the vertical axis of the
tools as well as random striation along the medial and proximal parts. In some cases, a
dark shiny band of 10 mm in width had developed along the medial area, in addition to
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
intense rounding, dark colouring and/or smooth polishing of the heel (see Online
resource 3 figures for more detail). Isolated fresh pecking in the medial area was also
identified. These data suggest that the hafting techniques were also homogenous.
In 13 cases, the PBAs demonstrated clear use-wear traces. In 2 cases, it was difficult
to determine whether the tools were used or not, and in further 2 cases, there was no
evidence of use (Table 4). In 2 cases, (tools 13125-6 from burial 57/78), the PBAs had
intentionally been broken in two halves after use.
In 11 cases, the use-wear traces indicated activities related to the processing of
different materials of animal origin. The most abundant was evidence of contact with a
combination of hard worked material and a soft and fatty one (8 cases, Fig. 6a). As a
result, a slight rounding had developed along most of the tool’s edge, with open/semiopen
micro-polishes of irregular microtopography on the matrix (Fig. 6 (D–F)),
possibly related to contact with fresh meat. Sporadically, there were fresh surfaces
(Fig. 6(B)) and small spots of a shiny compact directional micro-polish (Fig. 6(A and
C)), possibly indicating contact with a hard and moist material such as bone. We
interpret these use-wear traces as the result of carrying out direct percussion on fresh
meat/bone. More experimentation is needed in order to determine the exact butchery
activity observed.
Table 3 PBAs and tool 13057 (burial 36/76) contextual, technological, metric and morphological
characteristics
Burial Code Sex Age Section HBI Width Thickness Weight Weight CL
12/74 13002 IND Adult Triangular 65.57 36.6 24 172 3
15/75 13015 M 35–40 ‘u’ section 88.07 35.2 31 554 1
18/75 13021 INF 6–7 Flat-convex 32.50 40 13 70 4
19/75 13025 M 25–35 Flat-cylindrical 80.54 37 29.8 313 2
30/76 13044 INF 10–12 Flat-cylindrical 62.50 17.6 11 34 4
31/76 13047 F Adult Flat-convex 24.78 46 11.4 70 4
32/76 13048 INF 12–14 Triangular 126.67 15 19 63 4
36/76 13057 F 45–50 Oval 36.73 49 18 104 x
46/77 13085 M 20–35 Triangular 73.89 40.6 30 321 2
54/78 13114 M 20–25 ‘u’ section 82.22 36 29.6 393 2
57/78 13125 M 40–50 ‘u’ section 137.20 25 34.3 293 2
57/78 13126 M 40–50 ‘u’ section 125.10 24.3 30.4 191 3
59/78 13130 M 25–35 Flat-cylindrical 75.97 38.7 29.4 341 2
69/78 13146 M 20–30 Flat-cylindrical 53.58 40.5 21.7 278 2
71/79 13163 M 35–45 Triangular 70.33 36.4 25.6 183 3
76/79 13171 M 30–35 Triangular 88.67 30 26.6 224 3
77/79 13175 M 40–50 Triangular 80.56 36 29 318 2
79/79 13190 M 25–35 Flat-cylindrical 61.35 37 22.7 300 2
88/80 13214 M 20–30 ‘u’ section 122.95 24.4 30 242 3
Vide Online Resource 3 for PBA macroscopic images
CL cluster, HBI height-breadth index
Masclans Latorre et al.
Two hide-working tools were also identified. Tool 13057 from burial 36/76 is a flat
proximal fragment of a PBA displaying significant evidence of having been scraped
against a flexible, soft and not very abrasive animal material (Fig. 7A). On face A,
ochre residues were concentrated over a smooth active surface, where a greasy semiclosed
micro-polish with an irregular micro-topography had developed (Fig. 7D–E).
On face B, the same deep striation crossing transversally is found on the vertical axis of
the tool, with lateral fresh pecking also identified (Fig. 7C). Tool 13021 (grave 18/75)
(Fig. 7B) is a flat and very asymmetrical adze which featured a contact face (face A)
covered by deep striations that were perpendicular to the edge, u-shaped in cross
section (Fig. 7F–G) and located on a very rounded edge, where a directional semiopen/semi-closed
micro-polish of irregular micro-topography had developed (Fig. 7B,
F–H). This suggests that the tool was used for scraping abrasive, elastic animal matter.
Tool 13047 (grave 31/76), associated with a female-sexed skeleton, displayed shape
and technological characteristics that were very similar to those of tool 13021 (a child’s
grave). Its active area demonstrated slight punctual rounding of the most prominent
features of the topography, which could indicate its use on soft matter, though the
absence of use has also been considered as an alternative hypothesis.
In three cases, the worked material was found to be wood, although this could only
be fully confirmed for tool 13015 (grave 15/75) (Fig. 6G–H). This last case
corresponded to the largest artefact in the assemblage. It displayed evidence of being
Table 4 PBAs and tool 13.057 (burial 36/76) use-wear results
Burial Sex Age Category General
WM
WM gen
characteristics
Specific
activity
Kinematics
12/74 IND Adult Repaired Ind Hard Direct percussion
15/75 M 35–40 Used tool Wood Medium hard Wood Direct percussion
18/75 INF 6–7 Used tool Animal Abrasive elastic Hide Scrape
19/75 M 25–35 Used tool Animal Hard, soft Meat + bone Direct percussion
30/76 INF 10–12 Not used x x Toy? x
31/76 F Adult Used/not used Animal? Soft? ? Ind
32/76 INF 12–14 Not used x x Toy? x
36/76 F 45–50 Reutilised Animal Soft, flexible Hide Scrape
46/77 M 20–35 Used tool Animal Hard, soft Meat + bone Direct percussion
54/78 M 20–25 Used tool Animal Hard, soft Meat + bone Direct percussion
57/78 M 40–50 Used tool Ind Hard x Percussion
57/78 M 40–50 Used tool Animal Hard Bone Percussion
59/78 M 25–35 Used tool Animal Hard, soft Meat + bone Direct percussion
69/78 M 20–30 Used tool Animal Hard, soft Meat + bone Direct percussion
71/79 M 35–45 Used tool Animal Soft Meat? Direct percussion
76/79 M 30–35 Used tool Wood? Hard, flexible x Direct percussion
77/79 M 40–50 Used tool Animal Hard, soft Meat + bone Direct percussion
79/79 M 25–35 Used/not used x Soft x x
88/80 M 20–30 Used tool Wood? Medium hard x Direct percussion
WM worked material
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
first used for woodworking, following which the tool was incompletely re-polished.
The surfaces on the very edge of the active areas presented shiny open micro-polishes,
with a non-diagnostic micro-topography. On face B, at 1 cm from the edge, the traces
of the previous use were fully preserved, with isolated, compact and very shiny micro
polishes of undulating micro-topography. In this area, the presence of unpolished deep
striations is easily observable, together with isolated scratches. Those striations are also
visible (though less abundant) on face A. In tool 13214 (grave 88/80), the active area
displayed deep striations perpendicular to the edge and u-shaped in cross section,
though these striations were more extensively developed on face B, where the micropolish,
too, was more closed and shinier, presenting an undulating tendency. In tool
13171 (grave 76/79), the same micro-polish pattern was observed, even though no
striations were documented.
Fig. 6 a Bone/meat use-wear evidence. (A) Shiny compact directional micro-polish, tool 13025 (grave 19/75);
(B) fresh surface, tool 13085 (grave 46/77); (C) shiny compact micro-polish and fresh chip, 13025, 200×; (D)
semi-open micro-polishes of irregular microtopography, 13085, 200×; (E) slight rounding and open/semi-open
micro-polishes of irregular microtopography, 13025, 200×; (F) idem preceding illustration, 13025, 200×. b
Evidence of woodworking. (G, H) Micro-polish of undulating micro-topography, grave 15/75 (400×)
Masclans Latorre et al.
The PBAs from burials 30/76 and 32/76 (non-adult individuals) did not present
evidence of use on their active surfaces, though one of them displayed clear traces of
hafting. Furthermore, the technological and morphological characteristics of the PBAs
indicated that they were very similar to the tools found in the male graves, but of much
smaller dimensions. The absence of use-wear suggests that, like projectiles, unused
PBAs had been specifically produced for deposition as grave goods for 12–14-year
Fig. 7 Hide-working evidence. (A) Tool 13057; (B) tool 13021; (C) fresh pecking, 100×; (D) smooth surface
with ochre residues, 200×; (E) smooth surface with a semi-closed micro-polish of irregular micro-topography,
200×; (F) U-shaped in cross section deep striations perpendicular to the edge on a very rounded edge with
directional semi-open/semi-closed micro-polish of irregular micro-topography, 100×; (G) idem preceding
illustration, 100×; (H) detail of the micro-polish of irregular micro-topography, 200×
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
olds. An alternative and more plausible hypothesis, given the presence of hafting traces
on the medial area of tool 13048, would be that they were toys that were re-polished
before their final deposition in the grave. This last hypothesis arguing for a close
relationship between play and learning in the LBK context has already been addressed
by Siemoneit (1997: 78) not only involving polished adzes, but other items such as
small vessels or figurines.
These use-wear results correspond to the last use of the PBAs prior to being
deposited as grave goods, which does not necessarily reflect the daily uses of those
tools. Bearing this in mind, we note the great uniformity of uses found in men’s graves,
contrary to the more varied characteristics of PBAs found in the burials of children (not
used, used to process hide) and females (re-used as hide-processing tools).
The shapes and measurements of the PBAs were assessed for correlation between
use and the age and sex of the individuals with whom they were buried. Following the
stone adze typologies proposed by Ramminger (2007, 2009) (Fig. 8), the Vedrovice
PBAs were classified into 4 types, by combining the total width values with the heightbreadth-index
(HBI), which is calculated as (thickness/width) × 100.
It is noteworthy that the only PBAs belonging to Ramminger’s (Ibid) type 1 are
those found with the two 12–14-year olds (30/76 and 32/76). The functional
analysis of these artefacts suggested they were the only ones that had clearly not
been used. Type 1 blades are characterised by a width of less than 20 mm and an
HBI greater than 50. Their sections (triangular and flat-cylindrical) resemble those
of Types 3 and 4, found exclusively in association with male individuals (Fig. 9).
Type 1 also has the smallest weight of the sample (between 34 and 63 g). The tools
from burials 36/76, 31/76 (adult females), and 18/75, a 6-year-old of undetermined
sex, belong to type 2. This type consists of flat blades with a width of more than two
times the height, with widths between 40 and 50 mm, lengths between 66 and
74 mm, weighing between 70 and 104 g. Not only were these tools morphologically
and metrically homogeneous, they were also the only ones in the assemblage whose
use-wear traces indicate that they are likely to have been used for scraping hide
(vide supra) or to work very greasy, soft animal materials.
The majority of the artefacts were classified as type 3, medium-high blades with an
HBI between 50 and 100 and absolute widths between 35 and 50 mm (76/79, 15/75,
54/78, 77/79, 19/75, 59/78, 46/77, 71/79, 12/74, 79/79, 69/78). Found with adult men
and one adult of undetermined sex, they present triangular, flat-cylindrical and ‘U’shaped
sections, weigh between 172 and 554 g, and are between 92 and 156 mm long.
Finally, type 4 brings together exclusively those PBAs with U-shaped sections and
medium-large weights (191–293 g) and lengths (134–187 mm): the two intentionally
broken PBAs from burial 57/78 (one of undetermined use and the other related to
meat/bone) and a woodworking tool from burial 88/80.
PBAs used to chop meat/bone by direct percussion, presented HBI values between
53 and 125 and absolute widths between 25 and 40 mm. Woodworking tools were very
similar, with HBI values between 88 and 125. These data agree with the hierarchical
cluster analysis (paired group algorithm, distance 200) based on the weight values of
the PBAs (Table 3), which distinguishes 4 weight clusters. Weight clusters 1–3
correspond to the heavier tools (554–172 g), recovered from male graves, while weight
cluster 4 represents the lighter tools (10–34 g), found only with female individuals and
infants .
Masclans Latorre et al.
Pebbles
At Vedrovice, two pebbles were identified in female burials: tools 13,243 (a senile
female from grave 104/81) and 13,216 (an adult female from grave 90/80). The
first one, a quartzite pebble of 204 g and 81 × 28.9 × 52.8 mm, presents evidence
of having been used for pecking a semi-hard non-fatty material (Fig. 10a (A–D)).
In the other case, which was a quartz pebble of 185 g, 61 × 32 × 62 mm, two
Fig. 8 Bivariate plot comparing Vedrovice adzes HBI and total width typology according to Ramminger
(2007, 2009) classification. Squares corresponds to U-shaped sections, crossed dots to triangular and flatcylindrical
sections and ovoids to flat-convex and oval. Colour green corresponds to woodworking, white to
indeterminate use, grey to hide work and red to butchering or meat-related activities. Types 1–4 corresponding
to Ramminger’s PBA classification (2007, 2009)
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
different use zones were identified. On the inner zone, a directional micro-polish
of semi-closed network and irregular microtopography had developed, demonstrating
that the tool was used to soften leather/hide using mineral particles as an
abrasive (probably ochre) (Fig. 10b (A–C)). On the lateral sides, fresh pecking
resulting from direct percussion against mineral matter can be observed along with
a significant number of ochre residues filling the micro-holes (Fig. 10 (D)).
Use-Wear Summary
To sum up, we conclude that there is a distinction on the basis of sex not only
within tool types found in graves and how they are placed there, but also
regarding to their uses. For the first time we have been able to suggest that grave
Fig. 9 Polished and bevelled artefact types and sections examples. Types 1–4 corresponding to Ramminger’s
PBA classification (2007, 2009)
Masclans Latorre et al.
goods were not only tools from someone’s life, but some of them were made
specifically for the grave (in the case of projectiles), perhaps giving an indication
more of funerary ritual than of everyday life.
Tools such as PBA, often considered as votive, have been demonstrated to be fully
functional and quite used. Furthermore, the uses of those artefacts have proven to be the
result of very similar, almost patterned, activity processes, indicating a strong relationship
between the male burials and the processing of wood and possible butchering.
Finally, those tools associated with women have proven to be used in activities absent
among the male record, contributing to reach a new dimension concerning the division
of tasks among sexes.
Fig. 10 a Tool 13216. (A) Ochre residues, 100×; (B) indeterminate superficial micro-polish, 100×; (C) fresh
pecking, 100×; (D) fresh pecking, 100×. b Tool 13216. (A) directional micro-polish of semi-closed network
and irregular microtopography, 200×; (B) idem preceding illustration, 200×; (C) idem preceding illustration,
100×; (D) fresh pecking, 100×
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
Bioarchaeological Data Analysis and Interpretation
Strontium Isotope as Mobility Indicators
Strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) from human and animal teeth and bones are a widespread
method used to determine geographic origin and mobility patterns (Montgomery et al.
2000; Bentley et al. 2002, 2004). Sr isotopic signatures make their way from local
geological materials into the mineral composition of the human skeleton through the
diet and local water sources. Typically, values obtained from the teeth of each
individual are compared with a ‘local’ range, defined as within two standard deviations
from the average 87Sr/86Sr in human bones recorded on the site (Price et al. 2002).
Following this definition, ‘locals’ may include people who moved between similar
geochemical provinces, whereas ‘non-locals’ may include those individuals whose diet
catchment extended beyond the local area (Bentley et al. 2003).
Given that possible post-burial contamination may narrow the local range in a
misleading way by reducing the variation in the archaeological human bone 87Sr/86Sr
values (Horn and Müller-Sohnius 1999), local ranges are often further characterised
(Beard and Johnson, 2000; Price et al. 2002). Geological maps have been used to
develop baseline models predicting superficial strontium variations (‘isoscapes’), as
strontium ratios vary predictably between different geological provinces, based on their
age and composition (Bataille et al. 2018). Good results have also been achieved by
using small mammals or domestic animals to contrast a probable local strontium
signature with the values of potentially mobile humans (Gustin et al. 2018), provided
that the animals lived locally, which was not always the case (see Knipper 2011). The
absence of ‘isoscape’ models and of animal sampling from Vedrovice and its surroundings
is currently making it impossible to use this approach, and the Sr data results have
thus been taken with caution.
The Sr data obtained from Vedrovice has been revised and subjected to new
statistical analyses in order to distinguish possible correlations between different origins
and the different characteristics of the burials, such as sex, age, spatial distribution and
grave goods. Twenty-nine females, 17 males, 4 juveniles of undetermined sex and 9
infants from ‘Široká u lesa’ have been analysed as part of other projects (Whittle et al.
2013; Richards et al. 2008; Table 1). The sample size is thus large enough for analysis.
The 87Sr/86Sr mean ratio for all burials is 0.7109407, while the SD is ± 0.00010575,
with a range from 0.70835 to 0.712627. Even if there is no statistical relevant
difference between the sex groups present in the sample (= 0.25427, KolmogorovSmirnov
test), the females’ (F) isotopic mean value was indeed lower than the males’
(M) (F = 0.7108096, M = 0.7109477), as well as presenting larger variance (F =
9.99972E−07, M = 6.083345E−07). On this basis, both Richards et al. (2008) and
Whittle et al. (2013) proposed that there was greater female than male mobility among
the individuals buried at ‘Široká u Lesa’.
Here, we define 4 clusters of 87Sr/86Sr ratios by means of a hierarchical cluster
analysis (paired group algorithm, distance 0.001): SrCL1, consisting of a male (99/81)
and a female (29/76) (isotopic values 0.70849–0.70835); SrCL2, formed of 10 females
and 1 male (79/79) (isotopic values 0.70944–0.710407), including female 51/77 and
male 79/79, both presenting evidence of having spent the last 10–20 years of their lives
in coastal regions (on the basis on their sulphur isotope ratios; Zvelebil and Pettitt
Masclans Latorre et al.
2008); SrCL3, formed of 3 mature adult women (isotopic values 0.70126–0.70122) and
SrCL4, including 15 males, 15 females and 13 infants/juveniles of indeterminate sex
(isotopic values 0.71067–0.711529) (see further details in Online Resource 2.
Database, Table 1). We are aware of the low numbers in these clusters. However, the
significant differences between their medians (= 1.12E−07, Kruskal-Wallis test)
(Fig. 11a) together with the relevance of the strontium differentiation within the female
sample, convinced us of the appropriateness of including the mentioned clusters in
further analysis. The cluster that provides isotopic values which are the closest to the
site mean is ‘SrCL4’, which, given the lack of more accurate systems of reducing postburial
contamination errors (vide supra), is probably the ‘local’ group. This group also
included all the non-adult individuals, whose profile was more likely to represent a
non-mobile mode of life, even if this cannot be considered as a general rule in LBK
contexts (see Nehlich et al. 2009). The individuals belonging to the ‘local’ SrCL4
cluster are distributed across the whole cemetery (see Online Resource 2. Database,
Fig. 1). The remaining Sr clusters, consisting mainly of women, are situated principally
in the south-east, although not exclusively.
It has also been suggested that a relationship between sex and strontium ratio
variance depending on age was noticeable (Whittle et al. 2013). A statistically significant
difference is observed between females’ M1/2 and M3 isotopic data (= 0.018,
ttest), while no such difference was identified among men, whose isotopic ratios remain
stable across all age groups. Females had greater variability in their second molar (M2,
mineralised between 12 and 13) Sr ratios than males, but this was not the case with the
third molar (M3, mineralised between 17 and 21 years). This could mean that while
men found at ‘Široká u Lesa’ remained within the same area all their lives, women’s
mobility varied depending on their age, which suggests that they did not settle at their
final place of residence until between 14 and 16 years of age.
To summarise, women presented an increased lifetime mobility, especially when
their first and second molars were being formed. Men, with only two exceptions,
presented an isotopic signature coherent with a lifetime residential sedentism.
Diet Indicators: Nitrogen, Carbon and Sulphur Isotopes
Multiple rib and long bone samples have been studied for dietary isotopes (Nδ15, Cδ13
and Sδ34) confirming an essentially terrestrial diet based on cereals (Smrčka et al.
2005, 2008; Richards et al. 2008; Whittle et al. 2013). These raw data are explored in
this section with a view to determining diet patterns of the ‘Široká u Lesa’ adult male
and female individuals, with a total of 82 sampled individuals - a representative
percentage of the buried population.
Carbon (δ13C) isotopic values, considered as reliable indicator of marine foods in
European Neolithic diet, suggested the absence of marine and lacustrine resources as
well as of the absence significant differences between the sexes. Contrarily, Nδ15
isotopic variance was statistically different between the male and female individuals (=
2.0169E−05, Student t test), which could be an indicator of different rates of protein
consumption, with males eating more protein than females as suggested originally by
Richards et al. (2008). These differential values are supported by the dental microwear
analysis. Although Jorasová and Tvrdy (2017) did not find a statistically significant
difference between the dental microwear of the two sexes, given that there were twice
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
as many women as men, the absolute percentages clearly indicate that females mainly
consumed a mixed and vegetarian diet, while males had a higher rate of meat
consumption.
Sulphur isotope data resulting from the analysis carried out by Richards et al. (2008)
have been used here in combination with Cδ13 values to estimate if some of the higher
nitrogen values could be related to freshwater fish consumption, which is an attested
Fig. 11 a XY Biplot including 87Sr/86Sr values, 87Sr/86Sr concentration and strontium clusters 1–4. Black dots
correspond to females, grey dots to non-adults and white dots to males. b XY Biplot including Nδ15, Oδ13
isotope values and nitrogen clusters 1–4. Black dots correspond to males, white dots to female individuals
Masclans Latorre et al.
cause for the nitrogen values enrichment (Nehlich et al. 2009). At Vedrovice Sδ34
isotopic values range between − 3.4 and 4.3 ‰ while Cδ13 values ranged between −
20.3 and − 18.7 ‰. In both cases, the data confirm that the main dietary resource at the
site consisted of adult terrestrial domesticated animals and that the amount of freshwater
fish in the diet is negligible.
Four groups have been defined based on Nδ15 values by means of a hierarchical
cluster analysis (Ward’s method algorithm, distance 1.5) including only the adult
population (Fig. 11b) These nitrogen clusters (NCLs) vary depending on the proportion
and type of consumed protein. For instance, the ingestion of freshwater fish would also
produce a trophic level effect, which results in higher d15N and slightly increased d13C
isotropic values (Katzenberg 2008).
NCL1, composed of 15 females and 1 male, displayed the lowest protein values in
the assemblage (between 8.6 and 9.1‰). NCL2, formed of 12 females and 3 males
(values between 9.3 and 9.5 ‰), and NCL3, formed of 7 females and 8 males (values
between 9.7 and 10 ‰), show intermediate protein ingestion. Finally, NCL4, composed
of 6 females and 9 males (10.1–10.9 ‰) (Fig. 11b) (see further details in Online
Resource.2 Database, Table 1) are the group of individuals who displayed the highest
Nδ15 levels. A Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to test the statistical significance of
these groups, and it confirmed a meaningful difference between the medians of the
sampled groups (= 8.109E−13).
Female skeletons present evidence of lower protein ingestion than males, most likely
to reflect different dietary practices. Significant differences between men and women
Nδ15 values were documented in the eastern LBK sites whereas none was found in the
west (Hedges et al. 2013; Bickle and Whittle 2013) which lends more credibility to the
fact that it is a dietary difference, rather than due to biological processes.
This difference is especially significant in NCL1, which is a group of individuals
displaying lower protein consumption and that is composed mainly of women distributed
randomly across the cemetery. However, what is also noticeable is that the small
number of females included in the group of skeletons with high protein rates (NCL4)
are distributed inside or very close to the axis running from the south-west to the east of
the cemetery, along which local males were buried (see Online Resource 2. Database,
Table 1). This reinforces the idea that different dietary groups in life received different
treatment after death.
Infant feeding practices are one of the main factors that influence the size and
demographic structure of a population, with longer weaning periods generally resulting
in larger inter-birth intervals and fewer children born, as well as possibly affecting both
infant and mother morbidity and mortality rates (Waters-Rist et al. 2011). In the case of
Vedrovice, isotope analysis was performed on 14 children between 0 and 10–12 years
of age. Of those, only one infant (17/75) of around 1-year-old presented nitrogen values
suggestive of breastfeeding at death, reaching the expected ≈2–3% trophic level
increase (Kinaston et al. 2009). This was the only child under 3 years old present at
‘Široká u Lesa’, except for two perinatals (81b/79 and 93b/80) interred with adult
women. The isotope values of the only sampled perinatal, individual 81b/79, indicate
that it had not yet been breastfed at the time of death, thus indicating death before or
soon after birth (Katzenberg 2008). All the individuals older than 3 years of age present
similar isotope values, suggesting that weaning was performed between 2 and 3 years
of age, and that it was not ‘normative’ to bury non-weaned babies in the cemetery.
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
Health Condition
In order to explore the presence of food deficiency and/or nutritional stress among the
Vedrovice population, metabolic diseases related to nutritional stress were examined
through a bibliographic review of the presence of Harris lines, Cribra Orbitalia and
Enamel Hypoplasia in male and female bones (Whittle et al. 2013; Lillie 2008). These
pathologies mainly form during infancy and may also arise from differential access to
dietary proteins versus carbohydrates. Parallelly, data concerning the prevalence of
dental health was also collected during the bibliographic research.
A total of 28 affected individuals from the site were identified (Online Resource 2.
Database, Table 3). After removing burials with incomplete or absent skeletal remains
due to preservation problems (skull and postcranial parts) that could reduce the
reliability of the results (Table 5), no statistical relationship between the sex and the
presence of metabolic diseases could be established.
However, the women were significatively more affected by pathologies associated
with tooth decay than the men (Lillie 2008; Frayer 2004), which could suggest the
presence of sex-based differences in the preparation and consumption of food.
Tooth activity markers were also retrieved from the bibliography (Lillie 2008;
Frayer 2004; Jorasová and Tvrdy 2017), suggesting that the individuals used their
teeth to chew fibrous materials (Frayer 2004). Such markers were found in 5 females
(29/76, 68/78, 75/79, 94/80 and 97/80) and 2 males (46/77 and 82/79), from juvenile to
senile ages (Table 5). When considering only those individuals with preserved skulls
(32 females, 16 males), no statistical relationship was found between the sex and the
presence of dental grooves. No further palaeopathological data is currently published
preventing us from developing more hypotheses regarding the sexual division of labour
and differential quality of life depending on gender.
As a final remark, the spatial distribution of the burials of adult individuals
displaying metabolic diseases and dental decay indicates two significant trends. First,
the absence of tooth decay and metabolic diseases in the cluster of female burials
located in the north of the cemetery is noteworthy, especially given the fact that their
grave good presence is significantly low, as are their protein ingestion levels according
to the Nδ15 isotopic values (Fig. 11, Online Resource 2. Database, Table 1). The other
trend is that women with teeth decay are mainly concentrated in the south of the
cemetery, where the female burials tend to present more variety of grave goods (vide
infra).
Table 5 Contingency table displaying the presence of metabolic diseases and dental decay according to the
age and sex of the individuals
Presence Absence Presence Absence
Caries female 9 23 Female dental grooves 5 27
Caries male 3 13 Male dental grooves 2 14
Female MA tooth loss 10 22 Female Harris Lines 3 31
Male MA tooth loss 1 15 Male Harris Lines 11 5
Male Cribra Orbitalia + H 1 16 Female Cribra Orbitalia + H 4 24
MA mature adult
Masclans Latorre et al.
In summary, a certain degree of uniformity concerning the presence of metabolic
diseases, as well as a general absence of tooth decay can be found in men. In contrast,
the female skeletons present a greater degree of variation, as those found in the north of
the cemetery display a noteworthy absence of tooth decay, while those in the south
were significantly affected by it.
Grave Goods Distribution
In this section, statistical analyses performed on the basis of the new results of the usewear
analysis, as well as a bibliographic review of the rest of the grave goods, which
were mainly bone tools, ornaments, pottery vessels and grinding tools, attending to
their count and typological characteristics were considered. New results have been
acquired, adding significant new trends and nuances to the grave goods distribution in
relation to the individual’s sex, age and the spatial distribution of the graves.
Seventeen of the 69 adult graves present in ‘Široká u Lesa’ were unfurnished (i.e. no
grave goods recorded, though, of course, there is the possibility of non-preserved goods
made of organic materials), of which 12 were female, 4 male and 1 an adult of
undetermined sex (Online Resource 2. Database, Table 1). Consequently, it appears
as though no statistically relevant relationship between the sex of the individual and the
presence/absence of grave goods in their burial can be established.
A χ2 test was performed to measure the intensity of the relationship between grave
goods and the sex of the buried individuals (Table 6). To perform these tests the
disturbed burials (eroded, disintegrated or partially cut) have been removed from the
sample, contemplating exclusively what whole grave good assemblages. The results
indicate that the only statistically significant relationship between the grave goods and
the sex of the buried individuals existed for PBAs, flint tools and bone artefacts, all of
which were associated with male-sexed skeletons. Consequently, it is possible to affirm
that there, indeed, appears to have been an intentional grave goods differentiation
depending on the sex of the buried individuals in Vedrovice.
Table 6 Grave goods quantification according to sex. χ2 test results
Grave goods P A χ2 Grave goods P A χ2
PBA F 1 21 7.6976E-07 Bone/Antler F 0 22 0.0025222
PBA M 12 2 Bone/Antler M 5 9
Pottery F 11 11 0.2036 Pebbles F 4 18 0.35048
Pottery M 10 4 Pebbles M 1 13
Spondylus F 12 10 0.49412 Animal teeth F 0 22 0.068121
Spondylus M 6 8 Animal teeth M 2 12
Flint F 7 15 0.006237 Stone beads F 3 19 0.14898
Flint M 11 3 Stone beads M 0 14
Grinding stone F 2 20 0.62875 Snails F 1 21 0.41849
Grinding stone M 2 12 Snails M 0 14
P presence, A absence, M male, F female
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
The graves of perinatal and non-adult 1 individuals tend to be unfurnished. Nonadult
2 individuals are only accompanied by PBAs in three cases: a 6-year-old with a
flat-convex PBA used to scrape hide (which is significant because no such object has
been recorded in an adult male grave) and 2 unused small-sized replicas of the PBAs
found in adult male burials. In four cases, non-adult 2 burials were found to contain
Spondylus beads. As for juveniles, 1 flaked local blade and 8 projectiles were documented
in two different tombs.
Both young and mature adult females were found to have been buried with
Spondylus ornaments. However, other grave goods were only documented in the graves
of mature adult females. Likewise, the only assemblage of Spondylus beads formed of
more than 3 items was recorded in the grave of an adult female. In total, mature adult
female graves were found to contain 1 grinding stone, 2 local blades of undetermined
use, 1 flat-convex PBA re-used to scrape hide and 1 macro-lithic instrument used for
ochre pecking and for softening hides. What is noteworthy is the complete absence of
projectiles as well as of PBAs displaying the same characteristics as those found in
male graves.
Eight of 11 young male adults were found accompanied by PBAs, 3 by flaked tools,
and 6 by projectiles. All 5 mature adult males were accompanied by a PBA, while a
total of 1 flaked tool, 1 projectile, 2 unused exogenous blades and 2 local blades were
found in all the mature adult graves. Furthermore, the assemblages of male individuals
also contain bone tools and animal teeth.
Therefore, overall we observe that the frequency of each type of objects varies
depending on the age/sex (Table 7). Analysing the total number of artefacts of each
type and their distribution per grave reveals that male burials contain more tools than
those of females and children, with the sole exception of the grinding tools. Furthermore,
mature adults present a major density of objects which act as identity markers:
Spondylus beads for females, and PBAs for males. Senile individuals are not found
with PBAs or flint tools, and only one senile female was found to have been buried
with a Spondylus bead.
The tools found together with females and children are characterised by more
morphofunctional variability than those found with males, even if males present more
variability of artefact types. Instruments 36/76 (broken and reused PBAs used to scrape
hide), 90/80 (a pebble used for ochre pecking and hide-working) and 31/76 (flatTable
7 Grave goods quantity and distribution according to age/sex
Male
(17 individuals)
REP Female
(29 individuals)
REP INF 2
(12 individuals)
REP
Spondylus 67 items (in 6 graves) 8.7 43 items (in 14 graves) 20.2 4 items (15 beads) 5.7
PBAs 13 (in 12 graves) 18.8 1 1.5 2 toys (ML),
1 hide scraper (F)
4.3
Projectiles 31 items (7 graves) 10 0 x 2 graves (9 items) 2.9
Grinding 1 1.5 1 1.5 1 1.5
Blades 4 (4 graves) 5.8 2 local (2 graves) 2.9 1 local 1.5
Bone tools 5 (5 graves) 7.2 0 x 0 x
REP item representativity (across 69 burials)
Masclans Latorre et al.
convex PBA used to work a soft material), though related to skin/leather/hide work,
they are morphologically not specialised. The tools found with male individuals, both
projectiles and PBAs, display greater use-wear regularity (i.e. the activity is more
similar between them than between the activities performed using the tools found in
female burials), while the technical and morphological characteristics of the tools are
generally fully uniform, which is particularly the case with the tools accompanying
adult males.
With reference to the spatial distribution of the grave goods, there are three
especially significant clusters within Vedrovice: A, B and C (Fig. 12). Cluster A is
located at the centre of the male distribution and displays a significant concentration of
projectiles, Spondylus items, flint blades and PBAs. The isotopic analysis indicates that
cluster A coincides exclusively with NCL4 and NCL3 (those presenting higher nitrogen
values) individuals of both sexes and of SrCL4 (local). Cluster B is composed
exclusively of female and non-adult individuals of local origin, documented with Type
1 and 2 PBAs (not found in male graves) which were either used for hide-working and
ochre pecking or showed no traces of use. All these individuals but one belong to
NCL1 (low protein ingestion). Finally, cluster C (south-west of the cemetery) is
composed of SrCL4 males and females and the only male belonging to SrCL2. These
groups display heterogeneous nitrogen values, grave good variability similar to that of
cluster A and a significant concentration of male individuals with evidence of metabolic
diseases.
In summary, sex appears to be the decisive factor influencing the grave goods
frequency. Men are buried with more artefacts than women, while their stone tools
display more regularity both in terms of the uses and morphometrical and technological
characteristics. Age is the second factor that determines the grave goods variability, as
the non-adult and young individuals present less abundance of items than the adults. In
parallel, mature adults are buried with more objects than young adults, especially
displaying a major density of those objects that act as sex identity markers.
Discussion
The Vedrovice record offers a unique opportunity to approach a very short and
specific period within the sequence of LBK funerary patterns changes. This unusually
tight control over the variable of time has allowed us to focus our attention in
other elements that could explain the data variability. Four main factors have been
identified, in decreasing degree of importance: sex, age, geographic origin and diet.
Sex is the main variable that explains the grave good variability as well as the
isotopic, health and spatial organisation. From this, we propose that for the majority
of the LBK people buried at Vedrovice, gender was elaborated into two spheres
based on biological sex.
This result, however, is not inconsistent with the presence of strong variability
patterns within those biologically determined groups. If the attention is focussed
exclusively on grave good distribution, then only two genders will be broadly observed.
However, the review of the isotopic and osteological stress markers suggests
that, if these two genders broadly shaped lifeways as well, a presence of internal
differentiated patterns can be identified within the female-sexed skeletons in terms of
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
age, diet and mobility. These results remind us of the presence of other social identities
that should be present in our interpretations, identities that in many cases could help us
understanding how (two or more) genders, social hierarchies or cultural identities were
shaped.
Fig. 12 Plan of the Vedrovice site illustrating the grave goods localisation and functional and morphometrical
data, the individual’s sex and age and the graves belonging to the NCL4 cluster. Clusters A, B and C described
in the text are represented by the corresponding letters A, B and C
Masclans Latorre et al.
Male-Sexed Skeletons
Interpreting male mobility, dietary and funerary practices is complex since the male
population corresponds to 28% (as opposed to women, who constitute 48% of the
sample) and almost all belong to the ‘young adult’ age range. This exceptional situation
could be explained either by the fact that only a small proportion of men remained
settled in the territory, while the rest migrated, and/or by the presence of undocumented
funerary practices involving the male population. If such undocumented practices did
exist, this would imply that our observations of the male inhabitants cannot be applied
to all the men present in the area, and hence, that a bias must be taken into account
when interpreting the results of the material analysis. If this unusual sex ratio can be
explained by long-term male mobility or migration to other settlements, these could
only be confirmed through more extensive strontium analyses as well as detailed
isotopic baseline models predicting superficial geological variations. This degree of
analytic accuracy is of course narrowed by the limits of strontium analysis applied on
large areas of loess sediment, which signature is very homogeneous across most of
LBK distribution.
On this basis, one of the central elements that distinguish one sex from the other is
the strong uniformity among the male grave goods as well as lower diet, mobility,
health and spatial organisation variability, in comparison to the variability of female
graves (Bickle 2019).
Contrary to women, men were buried together in quite a compact cluster along a
continuous straight axis, indicating once again that the space was clearly organised
according to the sex of the buried individual. Men, with two exceptions, presented an
isotopic signature coherent with a lifetime residential sedentism, as they come from
SrCL4, non-adult. This may be interpreted as a reflection of the fact that those men
buried in the cemetery were born, raised, grew up and died at the same place,
suggesting a contrast from the more mobile female pattern.
In parallel, the nitrogen analyses indicate that men were likely to have consumed
more meat and/or products of animal origin than women. Those differences, if significant,
are actually very small in terms of δN parts per mill when compared with other
non-Neolithic populations (Hedges et al. 2013, 361–364), indicating that that
dissemblance could be the result of a more abundant food ingestion during shared
meals rather than distinctly different diets. This fact is of importance since it suggests
that the distribution of farming and/or hunting products was not exactly equal between
the sexes. The main part of male individuals belonged to the clusters displaying higher
nitrogen rates (NCL3–4), while 4 men were included in diet clusters 1 and 2, the ones
with lower nitrogen values. However, no association between the protein ingestion and
the quantity and variability of grave goods could be found.
Of the 21 males in the cemetery, 8 do not present PBAs, Spondylus or flaked tools
among their grave goods. Of those, two burials (50/77 and 25/75) were rather disturbed,
one (99/81) belong to a non-local individual and two more (108/84 and 82/79)
to the only senile individuals in the cemetery. Once those somewhat unusual burials are
removed, there are only 3 male graves left without grave goods: burial 63/78 (adult
mature, NCL3), burial 73/79 (young adult, NCL4) and burial 23/75 (juvenile, NCL4),
whose ages, origin and nitrogen rates do not allow to find any kind of pattern that
distinguishes them from the remaining furnished male burials.
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
The grave good variability among men depended mainly on the individuals age,
being young adults closely related to the presence of projectiles, ornaments and PBA
with flat-cylindrical, triangular and “U”-shaped sections. Mature adults tended to be
associated to PBA displaying triangular and “U”-shaped sections.
PBA found in the male graves show distinct uniformity in terms of the manufacturing
techniques, morphometrical attributes and use-wear results. The PBAs not only
present male-exclusive morphometrical characteristics and matching exogenous raw
materials but have also been mainly associated with damage patterns that can only be
interpreted to have resulted from animal butchering (symbolic or not) and/or warfare, of
which considerable direct evidence has been found in other LBK settlements (Vencl
1999; Wild et al. 2004; Meyer et al. 2015). The same can be observed in the case of
projectiles - a tool which is strongly related to both interpersonal violence (Ibidem) and
acquisition of animal resources through hunting activities. A certain degree of
standardisation of the technical and metric characteristics of the projectiles has been
observed. Another important observation is the fact that none of them were used and
that most of them were made from exogenous raw materials, meaning that they were
gathered and made for the grave as a part of funerary ritual.
The idea of a technological and morphometrical standardisation of the strongest
gender identity markers found within the LBK grave goods (i.e. PBAs and projectile
points), together with the fact that both can be traced to either interpersonal violence
and/or the killing/processing of animals, is very suggestive and open to multiple
interpretations.
This evidence opens several interpretative possibilities as to whether these differences
were related to unequal participation in the livestock care and management or,
fundamentally, to small biases in the product distribution resulting from other causes.
In any case, more data is needed in order to gain a better understanding of the livestock
practices: the aims of this production (meat, traction force, wealth accumulation,
secondary products, etc.), technological traditions (grazing practices, size of the pastures,
animal mobility) and the social implications of such practices (who was in control
of this production), though significant advances have been achieved in other LBK areas
(Gillis et al. 2017; Johnson et al. 2016; Marciniak 2005).
Female-Sexed Skeletons
Female burials present a rather strong internal variability according to their grave
goods, age, protein ingestion rates and mobility patterns. Those four variables constitute
the main guidelines of the female diversity.
Female skeletons were dispersed throughout the entire cemetery. One of the most
plausible explanatory factors of this distribution is age, as the burials of mature adult
females were distributed at the centre / south of the centre of the cemetery, while those
of senile, young adult and juvenile females were located along the borders. This
suggests a certain amount of preplanning in terms of layout—even if only lasting for
two or three generations, it would have been necessary to know what the centre/
periphery or north/south were in the cemetery to add burials in this pattern at a later
date.
Mature adult females were also the ones accompanied by a greater and more varied
amount of grave goods than the rest, including senile, juveniles and young adults,
Masclans Latorre et al.
which suggests that they received different funerary treatment depending on their age, a
phenomenon that has also been observed in other LBK cemeteries such as Aiterhofen
(Hofmann 2009).
This means that not all females displayed the same range of grave goods, suggesting
that here, again, heterogeneity can be identified within the female sample, as only a few
(mainly females from grave goods clusters A and B) were buried together with stone
tools, while the rest either had no grave goods at all or were buried exclusively together
with Spondylus ornaments. There also exists a possibility that women’s funerary
codification may have included organic materials that had not been preserved, such
as textile decoration and fabrics, wood artefacts or other kinds of items made with
vegetal fibres (Neugebauer-Maresch and Lenneis 2013).
This is a very important element as means that the interpretations based on the grave
good analysis, especially stone tools, are valid only for a small part of the female
population. In particular, the stone tools were exclusively related to senile and mature
adult women, all of which but one, were of local origin.
Stone tools found together with females are characterised by more morphofunctional
variability than those found in men’s burials, with non-specialised instruments (a PBA
fragment, pebbles, a flat-convex PBA, different kinds of grinding stones and flint
blades) generally related to skin/leather/hide work. The fact that all the functionallydetermined
tools accompanying women are related to similar activities presents yet
another topic of research that will require further attention, especially when the site’s
domestic areas are studied.
Female-sexed skeletons present quantitatively more variability than men as well as
more internal strontium variation, possibly reflecting the fact that they had moved to a
different location than their birthplace by the time they reached adulthood. This pattern
has often been explained as a resulting of exogamy practices in a patrilocal system
(Bentley 2007; Bentley et al. 2012). Although this is a plausible hypothesis, more data
is needed in order to dismiss other explanatory possibilities for women moving away as
a result of being married out of their immediate community. Patrilocality itself is not an
absolute self-explanatory category concerning women’s living conditions, as a huge
range of scenarios might arise around this kind of residence pattern (Bickle 2019). In
any case, until baseline models predicting superficial geological variations have been
fully developed, it is not possible to advance this discussion, as the degree of mobility
cannot be ascertained. Wider research reconstructing’ kindship through DNA analysis
on an inner-community scale of interaction may also shed some light on this matter.
The female isotopic values indicate that all the female individuals belonging to
NCL4 (the cluster with higher nitrogen values) are exclusively assigned with a lifetime
residential sedentism (SCL4). Furthermore, the SCL2, the larger non-local mobility
cluster is integrally formed by females with intermediate nitrogen ranges (NCL2–3).
Finally, those female with lower protein ingestion (NCL1) appear in all mobility
clusters but SCL2, so it seems like the origin of those women co-varied with the
amount of protein that they ingested. Even if those protein ingestion differences were
rather small, they may be indicative of the fact that women of different origin did not
share the same meals nor received the same share in the distribution processes.
All the stone grave goods except for Spondylus beads and 1 grinding stone are
concentrated exclusively at cluster SCL4 (the ‘local’ cluster) in both male and female
burials. It can thus be seen that not only were all the adzes documented at the site
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
associated with local males (as previously proposed by Whittle et al. 2013) but, in fact,
all the other tools and ornaments studied in this paper, except for the ones mentioned
above, were exclusively associated with individuals of local origin. This is a very
important fact, as it suggests that only individuals displaying lifetime local residential
sedentism were involved in funerary practices in which the rest of the population did
not participate.
Furthermore, it is noteworthy that Spondylus beads, obtained through long-distance
networks and strongly related to women, were the only items present regardless of
whether the buried individual was of local or non-local origin as well as regardless of
their protein ingestion rates. Answering the question as to whether or not these
ornaments were indicators of social status beyond the local symbolic traditions observed
in Vedrovice would require more extensive research.
A link between women and the vegetal world is suggested by the apparent prevalence
of mixed and vegetarian diets among the studied women, as well as by their
dental health which indicates that they are likely to have had a more cereal-related diet
and may have been involved in food processing activities different from those performed
by men.
In connection with the consequences of diet and health condition, female skeletons
present internal differences concerning dental health. The women found in the north of
the cemetery had a noteworthy absence of tooth decay, while those in the south were
significantly affected by it. Although no relationship can be established between dental
health and the isotopic or grave goods distribution, the women who were markedly
more affected by tooth decay coincide precisely with the cluster of mature adult females
whose burials are located to the south of the centre of the cemetery, which, at the same
time, includes or has in its very vicinity almost all the non-adult burials.
This could be explained by the presence of two generations of women enjoying
either different health condition or following different food production traditions, which
is a plausible explanation since all the mature adults belonging to this cluster can be
dated to the beginning of the necropolis occupation and have a very high statistical
probability of being contemporaneous (5300–5225 cal BC, Acomb 193.6) (vide
Online Resource 1. Chronology). Furthermore, with one single exception (burial
104), it is also very likely that the female burials outside this cluster were contemporaneous
to one another and dated back to a period slightly after that of the cluster in
question (between 5210 and 5075 cal BC, Acomb 102.5) (vide Online Resource 1.
Chronology). Although this is a very interesting insight, more radiocarbon data are
needed in order to fully assess this hypothesis.
To sum up, we have seen that female variability does respond to a series of patterned
variables that could be indicating the presence of regular sub-identities within this sex
group.
The Non-adult Individuals
The second factor determining the grave goods and spatial distribution is the age of the
buried individuals. Perinatal and non-weaned babies were generally buried without
grave goods as were most of the non-adult individuals. Moreover, perinatal babies were
only present together with their mothers, while the rest of the children were mainly
concentrated in the south-east of the cemetery, either isolated or close to females. This
Masclans Latorre et al.
peculiar spatial distribution and association with women suggests that age was a
significant variable explaining the spatial organisation the funerary space and that
children were symbolically differentiated from adults.
Non-adult and young individuals present less abundance of grave goods than adults,
while mature adults present more items than young adults, especially displaying a
major density of objects acting as gender identity markers. This indicates that, indeed,
the older the individual was, the more likely they were to have access to more
numerous and more variable grave goods. However, among non-adults there is a spike
in grave goods between c. 8–14 years old (non-adults II) and then a decrease until early
adulthood, a pattern that had already been attested across the LBK by Siemoneit (1997)
and Bickle and Fibiger (2014). This dynamic is broken in the senile population, who
were mainly buried without accompanying grave goods. This fact, while intriguing,
corresponds to other elements such as the spatial distribution of the graves of senile
individuals, which were mainly situated at the borders of the cemetery.
The grave goods distribution duality identified between adult males and females can
also be observed in the graves of 2 non-adult individuals, who display items such as
projectiles or 2 non-used PBAs exhibiting techno-morphological characteristics only
found in male graves. Furthermore, there is a PBA in a child’s grave displaying
morphometrical and functional characteristics very close to those identified in a
woman’s grave. These data, although scarce, open the possibility of suggesting a
binary socialisation of children around 5-years of age, distinguishing them between
males and females. More cemeteries would need to be studied to confirm this trend. In
order to attribute gendered grave goods assemblages to either girls or boys, the sex of
the non-adult skeletons will also have to be determined (e.g. through DNA analysis).
Conclusions
The techno-functional approach has provided new information concerning the past uses
of the stone tools deposited as grave goods at Vedrovice cemetery suggesting the
presence of different productive spheres attributed to each sex. Male-sexed individuals’
funerary symbolism was related to interpersonal violence, animal resource acquisition
and/or carcasses processing, as well as to a strong technological standardisation of their
tools, which varied according to the individuals’ age. Women were associated with
craft activities involving different kinds of animal skin processing. Non-specialised
artefacts exclusively related to mature adult women of local origin. Although no studies
have been conducted to date on Vedrovice domestic areas, what we know of LBK
community’s subsistence and craft practices suggest that a huge amount of daily
production processes are not reflected in the grave goods.
Diet data also indicate the presence of gendered lifeways since male-sexed skeletons
were likely to have consumed higher amounts of meat and/or products of animal origin
than women during shared meals. The uniformity in male diets matches their small
degree of mobility, as most of them were born, raised, grew up and died at the same
place. In contrast, female-sexed skeletons protein ingestion co-varies with their degree
of mobility, being lifetime residential sedentary women more likely to receive higher
amounts of animal proteins than those women who had moved to a different location
than their birthplace by the time they reached adulthood.
Sexual Inequalities in the Early Neolithic? Exploring Relationships...
The gendered differentiation in life as well as in the activities represented in their
funerary tools was reinforced by the remaining grave good distribution patterns and the
burial spatial organisation: male-sexed skeletons were buried with more numerous and
more varied grave goods than females. Exclusively mature adult females were buried
together with stone tools, and only Spondylus ornaments were present in female graves
regardless of the buried individual origin and protein ingestion rates. Although
Spondylus management is not the specific object of this paper, those results are quite
revealing and should be addressed and interpreted in the future in relation to the
documented mechanisms of long-distance exchange suggested by Windler (2018).
To conclude, the distribution of farming and/or hunting products was not exactly
equal between the sexes nor was between women of different origin. The community
deliberately accumulated more tools and ornaments in male burials than in females’, as
well as their tools representing differentiated spheres of production. While uniformity
seems to be the norm between males, females exhibited offering differences according
to their origin and age, consisting on inferior amounts of ornaments, tools and protein
ingestion among non-local non-mature individuals.
The presence of exogamy practices in a patrilocal system could be one of the factors
explaining those differences between local and non-local women, who received different
treatment both during life and during death. We must also consider that only a small
proportion of men have been documented in the cemetery either because only a small
part remained settled in the territory and/or by the presence of undocumented funerary
practices involving the male population, being this a topic to be explored in the future if
this picture of those early LBK communities is completed.
Attributing those differences to social hierarchies/inequalities or labour division/
specialisation would be somewhat hasty in view of the scarcity of the evidence, but in
no way can be considered as proof of their absence. On the contrary, they seem to
indicate some kind of economic and symbolic separation of men and women, the
degree and quality of which are still to be determined. The possible presence of
patrilocality can be an indicator of lower status women, since it can reinforce women’s
dependence on potential male-husbands (Meillasoux 1981) as well as an increase of
their insecurity as a consequence of the loss of her birth kinship network of social
support (Cintas-Peña 2019: 63).
The shortness of weaning periods (between 2 and 3 years) may be indicative of
frequent pregnancies with consequential effects on juvenile and young women health,
productive and symbolic attributions. In this sense, the possible motherhood symbolic
and economic changes derived from the Neolithic colonisation process should be
addressed in depth in the area, as it is currently being done in other regions such as
the Balkans (Stefanović et al. 2019, Stefanović’s BIRTH ERC-Funded project).
Analysing kinship through high-resolution genetic studies would certainly improve
our ability to interpret the presence/absence of patrilineality. Furthermore, exploring
family ties would also help us to better explain the observed gendered non-adult
socialisation and the possible presence of heredity.
The possibility of a cultural labour division according to sex is not only suggested by
the funerary practices: there is also evidence pointing to that direction in tooth wear.
Osteological stress markers determination is a necessary goal to explore more deeply
this matter, as well as to specify the range of activities performed by this community as
part of a detailed study of the settlement remains. This procedure would lead to a better
Masclans Latorre et al.
understanding of the value of the grave goods, determining the objective social value of
each of these activities and exploring the reasons as to why such activities may have
been absent from the funerary record.
Of course, Vedrovice is only representative of a short-time period of burial practices
in a very particular area at the beginning of the LBK. More research is needed in order
to investigate if the patterns observed in this cemetery are widespread in other regions
of the LBK and how they may have changed through time and space. Of important
relevance is to consider if the practices observed in this context display elements of
continuity with the Early Bronze Age, when patrilocality and intra-household inequalities
were more likely to have acted in female disadvantage (Mittnik et al. 2019).
Acknowledgments We would like to thank the Moravian Museum-Institute of Archaeology as well as the
staff of the Rebešovice office for their kind collaboration. Furthermore, this work would not have been
possible without the disinterested help of Dr. Gibaja, who provided his personal portable microscope, and Dr.
Morell’s inestimable guidance with Oxcal management. Finally, we would like to warmly thank all the people
who kindly agreed to revise the manuscript and whose advice and input have indeed improved the quality of
this work.
Funding Information This work has been funded through a Fyssen Foundation post-doctoral grant and the
support of UMR 8215-Trajectoires de la Sédentarisation à l’État (CNRS – Université Paris 1).
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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