Question

gender roles changed significantly as humans moved from the Paleolithic to Neolithic ages. Evaluate ONE way that the role of women changed and why?

Answer 1

Answer:

Paleolithic era began about 2.6 Ma ago and ended about 12000 years ago. After that, Neolithic era began. In Paleolithic times, people would form nomadic groups consisting of 30-50 individuals in which men and women would have equal share of work and rights. Men would hunt and gather meat, whereas women also gathered berries and other fruits i.e. plant source for nutrition. In fact, women used to be more successful in providing nutrition. During this time, both the parents worked equally to raise a child because the small groups could travel far from other groups. However, these gender roles suddenly changed in Neolithic time. In Neolithic time, one of the most significant development of human civilisation took place and that is, growth of agriculture due to availability of fertile soil. Instead of nomadic groups, this era, for the first time, witnessed development of a social structure and as people became organized and started building homes and agricultural fields, women's status started declining. People started to give birth to more number children, thus leading women to become more restricted within households whereas men would spend most of the time in the agricultural fields.