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One widespread belief suggests that in some earlier eras of human existence, females had equal status to men, or perhaps ruled, resulting in happier and less violent societies. Subsequently, the patriarchy arose, ushering in ages of conflict and oppression.

The Origins of the Gender System Discussion

The idea of matriarchy and male-led societies as polar opposites—with a sudden switch between them—originated in the 1800s via socialist theory, entering archaeology despite limited evidence. Thereafter, it spread into public awareness.

Anthropologists, by contrast, were often less convinced. They observed significant variation in gender relations among human societies, both modern and past ones, and many suspected that this diversity had been the standard in ancient times as well. Proving this proved difficult, partly because identifying physical sex—not to mention gender—was often tricky in old skeletons. Then about 20 years ago, everything shifted.

A Revolution in Genetic Analysis

The much-touted ancient DNA revolution—the capacity to recover DNA from ancient bones and study it—enabled that abruptly it was feasible to determine the sex of ancient people and to examine their family connections. The isotopic composition of their skeletal remains—particularly, the ratio of isotopes found there—indicated whether they had resided in various locations and undergone dietary changes. The evidence coming to light due to these advanced methods indicates that diversity in gender relations was absolutely the rule in prehistory, and that there was no clear watershed when one system yielded to its mirror image.

Hypotheses on the Emergence of Patriarchal Systems

The Marxist idea, in fact attributed to Engels, suggested that early societies were equal before agriculture expanded from the Middle East about ten millennia back. With the settled lifestyle and accumulation of resources that farming introduced came the necessity to defend that property and to set laws for its inheritance. As populations grew, men monopolised the leading groups that formed to coordinate these affairs, in part because they were more skilled at warfare, and assets passed to the paternal lineage. Men were also inclined to stay put, with their wives moving to join them. Women’s subordination was frequently a byproduct of these changes.

An alternative theory, proposed by archaeologist a Lithuanian scholar in the 1960s, was that woman-centred societies prevailed for an extended period in Europe—until 5,000 years ago—when they were toppled by arriving, male-ruled migrants from the steppe.

Evidence of Matrilineal Societies

Female-line descent (where property is inherited through the mother’s side) and female-resident patterns (where women stay together) often co-occur, and both are linked with greater female status and authority. In 2017, American geneticists reported that for over three centuries during the 10th century, an elite mother-line group inhabited Chaco Canyon, in modern-day New Mexico. Later, in a recent study, Asian researchers reported a matrilineal agricultural community that flourished for nearly as long in eastern China, more than three millennia prior. Such discoveries join previous evidence, suggesting that female-descended societies have existed on every inhabited continents, at least from the advent of farming forward.

Power and Autonomy in Ancient Societies

But, even if they possess greater standing, females in matrilineal societies don’t necessarily hold decision-making power. That generally remains the preserve of men—specifically of maternal uncles rather than their husbands. And because old genetic material and isotopes don’t reveal a great deal about female agency, gender power relations in prehistory remain a subject of discussion. In fact, such research has prompted scholars to ask themselves what they mean by authority. If the female consort of a king influenced his entourage through support and informal networks, and his own policies by counselling, did she hold less influence than him?

Archaeologists know of several examples of couples sharing power in the metal age—the era following those migrants arrived in Europe—and later historical records attest to high-status women influencing decisions in such ways, continents apart. Perhaps they did so in the distant past. Women exerting soft power in patriarchal societies may even have existed before Homo sapiens. In his 2022 book about gender roles, Different, primatologist a noted scientist described how an dominant female chimp, a named individual, anointed a replacement to the top male—who outranked her—with a kiss.

Factors Shaping Gender Relations

In recent years something else has emerged. While the theorist may have been broadly correct in associating wealth with patrilinearity, other factors shaped sex roles, as well—including how a society makes a living. Recently, Chinese and British scientists found that traditionally female-line villages in Tibet have become more gender-neutral over the past several decades, as they moved from an agricultural economy to a trade-focused one. Conflict also has a role. Although female-resident and male-resident societies are just as warlike, says anthropologist Carol Ember, within-group disputes—rather than battles against an outside group—prods societies towards male residence, because fighting groups choose to have their male offspring close.

Women as Warriors and Authorities

Meanwhile, evidence is accumulating that women engaged in combat, hunted and served as shamans in the ancient world. No role or position has been closed to them always, everywhere. And though female decision-makers may have been rare, they were not absent. Recent ancient DNA findings from an Irish university show that there were at least pockets of female-line descent throughout the British Isles, when Celtic tribes controlled the island in the metal period. Alongside archaeological evidence for women fighters and ancient accounts of female tribal chiefs, it appears as if ancient European women could wield direct as well as indirect authority.

Modern Matrilineal Societies

Matrilineal societies still exist today—the Mosuo of China are an example, as are the a Native American tribe of the southwestern U.S., descendants of those ancient lineages. Their numbers are dwindling, as national governments assert their patriarchal muscles, but they act as testaments that certain extinct societies tilted more towards sex parity than numerous of our modern ones, and that all societies have the capacity to change.