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