Prehistoric Economics
Neanderthal man was a strong, large-brained, skilful big-game hunter who had survived for more than 200,000 years in the harsh European climates of the last Ice Age. But within a few thousand years of the arrival of modern humans in the continent, he was extinct.
In existing pre-agricultural societies there is a division of food-acquiring labor between men, who hunt, and women, who gather. “What’s a Mother to Do?: The Division of Labor among Neandertals and Modern Humans in Eurasia” (Current Anthropology) proposes that this division of labor happened early in the species’ history, and that it is what enabled modern humans to expand their population at the expense of Neanderthals.
Division of labor leads to greater productivity because it allows people to specialize and become very good at what they do. In the vast majority of cases among historically known and present-day foragers, men specialise in hunting big game, while women hunt smaller animals and collect plant food. In colder climes, where long winters make plant-gathering difficult or impossible for much of the year, women often specialize in making clothing and shelters.
The archaeological record shows few signs of any specialization among the Neanderthals from their appearance about 250,000 years ago to their disappearance 30,000 years ago. They did one thing almost to the exclusion of all else: they hunted big game. There are plenty of collections of bones from animals such as reindeer, horses, bison and mammoths that are associated with Neanderthals, but few remains of rabbits or tortoises. There is also little sign of preserved seeds and nuts, or of the specialized grinding stones that would have been needed to process them. And there are no bone awls or needles that would suggest that Neanderthals were skilled leather workers, despite the abundance of animal skins that their hunting would have provided.
Signs of division of labor come only with the arrival of modern humans into Europe around 40,000 years ago. That is when evidence appears of small animals being eaten routinely and plant foods being gathered. It is also when tools designed for sophisticated leather working emerge.
Division of labor probably originated in a warmer part of the world — Africa seems most likely — where plant foods could be gathered profitably all year round. But as humans brought the idea of division of labor north, the female side of the bargain gave the species a significant advantage by providing fallback foods when big game was scarce and allowing more people to inhabit a given piece of land in times of plenty.
“Mrs Adam Smith,” The Economist