176 CHAPTER 8 | Early Homo and the Origins of Culture
Biocultural ConnectionSex, Gender, and Female Paleoanthropologists
Until the 1970s, the study of human evo-
lution was permeated by a deep-seated
bias reflecting the privileged status en-
joyed by men in Western society. Beyond
the obvious labeling of fossils as particu-
lar types of “men,” irrespective of the
sex of the individual represented, it took
the form of portraying males as the active
players in human evolution. Thus it was
males who were seen as providers and
innovators, using their wits to become
ever-more effective suppliers of food and
protection for passive females. The latter
were seen as spending their time prepar-
ing food and caring for offspring, while
the men were getting ahead by becoming
ever smarter. Central to such thinking was
the idea of “man the hunter,” constantly
honing his wits through the pursuit and
killing of animals. Thus hunting by men
was seen as the pivotal humanizing activ-
ity in evolution.
We now know that such ideas are
culture-bound, reflecting the hopes and
expectations of Euramerican culture inthe late 19th and early 20th centuries.
This recognition came in the 1970s and
was a direct consequence of the entry of
a number of highly capable women into
the profession of paleoanthropology.
Up until the 1960s, there were few
women in any field of physical anthropol-
ogy, but with the expansion of graduate
programs and changing attitudes toward
the role of women in society, increas-
ing numbers of women went on to earn
doctorates. One of these was Adrienne
Zihlman, who earned her doctorate at
the University of California at Berkeley
in 1967. Subsequently, she authored a
number of important papers critical of
“man the hunter” scenarios. She was not
the first to do so; as early as 1971, Sally
Linton had published a preliminary pa-
per on “woman the gatherer,” but it was
Zihlman who from 1976 on especially
elaborated on the importance of female
activities for human evolution. Others
have joined in the effort, including
Zihlman’s companion in graduate schooland later colleague, Nancy Tanner, who
wrote some papers with Zihlman and has
produced important works of her own.
The work of Zihlman and her
co- workers was crucial in forcing a
re examination of existing “man the
hunter” scenarios; this produced recogni-
tion of the importance of scavenging in
early human evolution as well as the value
of female gathering and other activities.
Although there is still plenty to learn
about human evolution, thanks to these
women we now know that it was not a
case of females being “uplifted” as a
consequence of their association with
progressively evolving males. Rather, the
two sexes evolved together, with each
making its own important contribution to
the process.
BIOCULTURAL QUESTION
Can you think of any examples of how
gender norms are influencing theories
about the biological basis of male and
female behavior today?© The Field Museum Neg A102513C© The Field Museum Neg A102513CIn this artist’s reconstruction separate
roles are portrayed for males and females
from early Homo. Do the roles depicted
here derive from biological differences
between the sexes or culturally estab-
lished gender differences?
the female members of the species stayed at home tend-
ing their young. Similarly, until the 1960s, most cul-
tural anthropologists doing fieldwork among foragers
stressed the role of male hunters and underreported the
significance of female gatherers in providing food for
the community. Western notions of gender, the cultural
elaborations and meanings assigned to the biological
differentiation between the sexes, played a substantial
role in creating these biases.
As anthropologists became aware of their own biases,
they began to set the record straight, documenting the
vital role of “woman the gatherer” in provisioning the
social group in foraging cultures, past and present. (See
this chapter’s Biocultural Connection for the specificgender The cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to
the biological differentiation between the sexes.