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posted by martyb on Saturday December 02 2017, @08:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the many-grains-of-truth dept.

A study has compared the bones of Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age women to those of modern female athletes:

Grinding grain for hours a day gave prehistoric women stronger arms than today's elite female rowers, a study suggests. The discovery points to a "hidden history" of gruelling manual labour performed by women over millennia, say University of Cambridge researchers. The physical demands on prehistoric women may have been underestimated in the past, the study shows. In fact, women's work was a crucial driver of early farming economies.

"This is the first study to actually compare prehistoric female bones to those of living women," said lead researcher, Dr Alison Macintosh. "By interpreting women's bones in a female-specific context we can start to see how intensive, variable and laborious their behaviours were, hinting at a hidden history of women's work over thousands of years."

Also at Science Magazine, The Guardian, WUNC, and The Verge.

Prehistoric women's manual labor exceeded that of athletes through the first 5500 years of farming in Central Europe (open, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao3893) (DX)

Related: Divergence in Male and Female Manipulative Behaviors with the Intensification of Metallurgy in Central Europe (open, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112116) (DX)

Lower limb skeletal biomechanics track long-term decline in mobility across ∼6150 years of agriculture in Central Europe (DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2014.09.001) (DX)


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday December 03 2017, @12:43AM (3 children)

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday December 03 2017, @12:43AM (#604484) Journal

    The first and last vulva and vagina you ever got near were your mother's so I don't see the concern here. Here's an idea, how about we leave EVERYONE'S babymaking bits alone, huh? Regardless of sex?

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by KiloByte on Sunday December 03 2017, @04:27AM (2 children)

    by KiloByte (375) on Sunday December 03 2017, @04:27AM (#604569)

    Please tell me, why did you insult the AC? Did he say anything wrong? He complained that only female genital mutilation is banned, while male mutilation is actively promoted (like, Bill G. dumping $150M into promoting genital cutting in Africa).

    It would nice if there, you know, were equal rights wrt having our babymaking bits intact.

    --
    Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @05:05AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @05:05AM (#604575)

      Please tell me, why did you insult the AC? Did he say anything wrong? He complained that only female genital mutilation is banned, while male mutilation is actively promoted (like, Bill G. dumping $150M into promoting genital cutting in Africa).

      It would nice if there, you know, were equal rights wrt having our babymaking bits intact.

      Why don't you worry about your own parts, not those of others?

      The correct way to punctuate a sentence that states: "Of course it is none of my business, but -- " is to place a period after the word "but." Don't use excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. Cutting his penis is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about.

      With apologies to RAH.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @06:56PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 03 2017, @06:56PM (#604755)

      FGM often includes complete removal of the clit, which is considerably worse than just having some of the foreskin removed. So I'd say banning FGM definitely should be a higher priority than banning male circumcision. But yes, I agree the latter should be banned too.