Post on 11-Jan-2016
Women in Horticulture and Agriculture
Cultivation, Tools, and Animal Husbandry
Vivien Tsuong
Women as Early Inventors
Women most likely inventors of horticulture and agriculture
• Why?
Some Historical Evidences
Evidences found in…
• Myth and Religion
• Division of Labor
• Language
• Archaeology
• Primate Ethology
Myth and Religion
Women’s fertility associated with earth’s fertility
Earth is often referred and worshipped as a goddess, not god.
Gaia
Cultivation also connected to religious practices
Planting Beans
Division of Labor
How was work divided? Study: Murdoc & Provost’s Standard
Cross-Cultural Sample
107 out of 185 societies assigned gathering task predominantly to females.
Gathering supplied 60-80% of the diet in society
Archaeology
Evidence found in: Tomb carvings Paintings Archaeology behavior Graves
In Neolithic site of Catal Huyuk in Anatolia
Language
Borrowed or derived from other areas. Sumerian words for “plough,” “farmer,” or “furrow”
were not of Sumerian origin. Many things were simply introduced into the
societies
Primate Ethology
Inventions demonstrated with primates
Japanese Snow Monkey Chimpanzee
Evidence also based on female
chimpanzee behavior
Female chimps used tools consistently more often for feeding purpose than males.
Pre-Horticultural Period
Women’s most important inventions Invented tools that aided in plant/food
gathering Digging Sticks
An all-purpose tool and weapon Required skills
Also useful for transportation of fire;
Led to possibility of how women discovered benefits of a fire-hardened point on a stick
Carrying Basket Many forms Convenient way of
gathering and storing food
Lesser trips; saved more time
Basket made out of animal skins
and woven vines.
Invention of weaving skills
Other uses:
Carrying infants
Horticultural Period
Began shortly before 8000 B.C. Women created new tools and improved old
ones. Digging stick modification
The Hoe
Found mostly in all horticultural societies A possible invention by women
Women used hoes mostly Catal Huyuk graves Uses:
Loosens soil Breaks up large lumps
of dirt and clay Kills weed
The Spade
Useful for cultivation New Guinea Mount Hagen
women used spade to
cultivate their garden plots
Useful for digging
Was first made of wood
The Plough Earliest plough derived from dragging
motions of digging sticks or hoes
Women were never credited with this invention due to:
Incorrect association with modern ploughs
Physical strength issues
Women were not as strong
“Women Are Our Tractors”
Women were trained from childhood and prepared for labor intensive work Gathering food Hauling firewood Building houses
Women not only carried heavy loads but also infants at the same time!
Therefore, it was a possible fact that women were stronger than most people realized
Further Evidence: 1970 Study: Sexual Division of Labor 70 out of 185 societies assigned “burden carrying” tasks
either exclusively or predominantly to women.
• Only 18 societies assigned these tasks to men
Irrigation
Rose with horticulture Women most likely earliest irrigators
Irrigation needed where crops
needed plenty of water Two Types of Irrigation:
Bringing plants to the water Scattering seeds in pools of water
Bringing water to the plants Creating way for water to find its way to the plants
Fire as Land-Clearing Tool
Both men and women use fire to clear land Men cut down trees and cleared away the
brush The “gardeners” (women) can control and
tame fire
Fertilizer
Women spent time in cultivation, therefore are able to observe plant growth and its environment.
Menstrual blood was used as fertilizer Symbolic Herring used to increase plant growth (chemicals
provided rich soil)
Domestication & Selective Breeding of Plants
From experience, women somehow learned to domesticate or hybridized plants. Most cultivated food provided more than 70% of:
Weight Calories Protein
Wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, sorghum, millet, and rye make up 75% of human food energy
Agricultural Period Occurred around 4000-2000 BCE Advanced & complex societies demanded a
large-scale cultivation of true agriculture Result: Women lost position as primary cultivators Importance of work changed
Person in charge Takeover Theory
Answer hard to pinpoint Marxist – Power Means of production Male physical strength Women too busy thus gave men more leisure time
Possible Reasons for Takeover Theory Birth explosion
Pregnancy affects work Late pregnancy & early lactation
Workload increaseProvide foodChild rearingFood processing
Emotional traumaDeath of children
Possible Reasons for Takeover Theory
Transition from female to male-centered religion After 300 BC, male deities take over female
deities
Professionalization of Cultivative Role Part-time to full-time job Irrigation becomes a complex system
Animal Husbandry
Breeding New Varieties Women found many ways to breed new cattle
Salina, Maria, Elena Henrietta King Sally Forbes Helen Newton Turner
Sheep-breeding & production
Animal Husbandry
Humane treatment of livestock Inventions:
Improvement of livestock Environment Fleas
• Dairy and Poultry
•Inventions:
•Improved labor production
•Faster & Cleaner