It is fascinating how human were able to live through ice age. During the ice age, the temperature intensely dropped, covering the Earth’s surface with ice sheets and glacier. It is not much to say that women’s role is one reason they were able to overcome the severe environment. Neanderthal and Homo sapiens were the two species of the Homo genus that lived during the ice age.
Even though they had similar life styles, Neanderthals extinct, and Homo sapiens were able to live on and became the direct ancestor of modern human. Anthropologists state that this difference come from the difference of women’s role in society.In Neanderthal society, there was almost no division of labor between men and women. Therefore, it was not unusual for women to be helping men with their hunting. However, role of Homo sapiens women was to supply the family with clothing, shelter, and fruit and seed they gathered.
Their tasks did not require dangerous hunting. The women’s act of sewing clothes or grinding foods developed their tools and they were accessible to evolved clothing and shelters. Even though Homo sapiens are not resistant to coldness, this made it possible for Homo sapiens to live through the coldest stage of the ice age.Women have led the Homo sapiens to have high living standard.
We are likely to imagine Homo sapiens wearing a simple piece of animal fur. But recently, Anthropologists have discovered that ice age women wore advanced and fashionable clothing. Women used variety of textiles including cotton and linen which are still used today. Clothing were made from textiles sewed together using strings made from animal skin and needles made from bones. Their clothing also had good heat preservation, which showed that women had high weaving and coiling skills.Their outfit included belts, caps, and skirts and were often decorated with colorful beads.
Women also made bracelet and necklace out of shell, bones, and flowers. Anthropologists observe that the origin of accessories was to represented tribal identification or social standing. From such fine clothing the women wore, the women may have had high status it the society. Ice age women may be our true fashion icon. Our lives highly differ from the women in ice age. In the prehistoric era, there was not much difference in gender roles, and had equal status in the society.
Men and women had almost similar physical and mental strength, therefore had no reason to divide their labor. In modern society, jobs are clearly split between sexes. Some modern people still have the stereotype of women with domestic work and men with the physical labor. Although nearly 20,000 years have passed since the last ice age, women’s awareness toward fashion has not changed.
Clothing and Accessories have been one of the ways for women to express themselves and show creativity. Women has developed clothing in a functional and fashionable way.
