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One widespread belief claims that in certain earlier eras of human existence, females had similar status to men, or even dominated, leading to more harmonious and less violent societies. Subsequently, male-dominated systems arose, ushering in ages of strife and subjugation.

The Origins of the Gender System Discussion

This concept of matriarchy and male-led societies as polar opposites—following a decisive transition between them—was seeded in the 19th century through socialist theory, entering anthropological studies with little proof. From there, it permeated into public awareness.

Anthropologists, however, tended to be less convinced. They observed significant variation in sex roles across human societies, including modern and past ones, and many theorized that this variety was the norm in ancient times as well. Proving this was difficult, in part because determining physical sex—not to mention gender—was often hard in ancient remains. But around two decades back, everything shifted.

A Revolution in Ancient DNA

The much-touted genomics era—the capacity to recover DNA from old remains and analyse it—enabled that suddenly it became possible to identify the sex of long-dead individuals and to examine their kinship ties. The chemical makeup of their bones and teeth—specifically, the ratio of elemental variants found there—revealed whether they had lived in various locations and undergone shifts in nutrition. The picture coming to light thanks to these new tools shows that diversity in gender relations was absolutely the norm in ancient eras, and that there was no definite turning point when one system gave way to its mirror image.

Hypotheses on the Emergence of Male-Dominant Systems

One influential theory, actually attributed to Engels, proposed that early societies were egalitarian until farming expanded from the Near East about 10,000 years ago. Accompanying the more sedentary way of life and building up of resources that farming introduced came the need to defend that property and to establish laws for its inheritance. As communities grew, men monopolised the leading groups that developed to coordinate these affairs, partly because they were better at fighting, and wealth passed to the male line. Men were also more likely to stay put, with their wives relocating to join them. Female oppression was frequently a consequence of these changes.

An alternative view, proposed by archaeologist Marija Gimbutas in the mid-20th century, was that female-oriented societies prevailed for longer in the continent—up to five millennia back—when they were toppled by incoming, male-ruled migrants from the steppe.

Evidence of Female-Line Societies

Female-line descent (where wealth is inherited through the mother’s side) and matrilocality (where women remain in one place) frequently co-occur, and both are associated with greater female status and influence. In recent years, U.S. geneticists discovered that for more than three centuries around the 10th century, an high-status mother-line group lived in a canyon site, in modern-day New Mexico. Then, in a recent study, Asian researchers reported a matrilineal farming community that flourished for a comparable duration in eastern China, more than three millennia prior. Such discoveries join previous evidence, suggesting that matrilineal societies have existed on every inhabited continents, at least from the arrival of agriculture on.

Power and Agency in Prehistoric Societies

But, even if they enjoy greater status, women in mother-line societies don’t necessarily make decisions. That generally remains the preserve of men—just of maternal uncles rather than their husbands. And because ancient DNA and isotopes can’t tell you much about women’s autonomy, gender power relations in prehistory remain a matter of discussion. Indeed, this line of work has prompted researchers to ask themselves what they understand by power. If the wife of a male ruler shaped his entourage via patronage and informal networks, and his own policies through advice, did she hold less influence than him?

Archaeologists know of multiple instances of pairs ruling jointly in the bronze age—the era after those migrants arrived in Europe—and subsequent written accounts confirm to elite women influencing decisions in similar manners, continents apart. Maybe they did so in the distant past. Females exerting soft power in male-dominated societies may even have predated Homo sapiens. In his recent publication about gender roles, Different, primatologist a noted scientist recounted how an alpha female chimp, Mama, chose a successor to the alpha male—her superior—with a kiss.

Factors Influencing Sex Roles

In recent years something else has become clear. Although the theorist was likely broadly correct in linking wealth with patrilinearity, additional elements affected gender relations, as well—including how a community sustains itself. In February, international researchers reported that historically female-line villages in a highland region have grown more gender-neutral over the last 70 years, as they moved from an farming-based system to a market-oriented one. Struggle additionally has a role. While matrilocal and male-resident societies are equally warlike, notes researcher a Yale expert, within-group disputes—as opposed to war against an outside group—pushes societies towards patrilocality, because fighting groups prefer to have their sons nearby.

Females as Warriors and Authorities

At the same time, proof is mounting that women fought, hunted and served as spiritual leaders in the ancient world. Not a single position or role has been barred to them in all times and places. And though female decision-makers were perhaps uncommon, they haven’t been nonexistent. New ancient DNA findings from Trinity College Dublin show that there were no fewer than pockets of female-line descent throughout Britain, when ancient groups dominated the land in the metal period. Combined with archaeological evidence for female warriors and Roman descriptions of female tribal chiefs, it appears as if Celtic women could exercise hard as well as soft power.

Contemporary Female-Line Societies

Matrilineal societies persist nowadays—a Chinese group are an example, as are the a Native American tribe of the southwestern U.S., descendants of those Chaco Canyon clans. Their numbers are dwindling, as state authorities assert their male-dominant muscles, but they serve as reminders that certain vanished societies tilted more towards gender equality than numerous of our modern ones, and that all societies have the potential to evolve.