A new survey of a very ancient technology – stone tools – has provided evidence that supports the theory that a gender-based division of labour emerged with the adoption of farming, at least as far as Europe is concerned. A team of four scientists from Spain, France and the UK, led by Alba Masclans of the Spanish National Research Council, analysed more than 400 stone tools collected from Early Neolithic graves in Central Europe. The Neolithic period, popularly known as the New Stone Age, was the last period of the wider Stone Age. The evidence suggests that it emerged in the Middle East some 12 000 years ago and slowly spread north, west, east and south. While Greece entered the Neolithic some 9 000 years ago, Britain and Scandinavia did not follow suit until about 5 000 years ago.
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