Tasting the forbidden fruit: gender based dietary differences among prehistoric hunter-gatherers of Eastern Europe

Abstract

This paper evaluates isotope ratios from a number of males and females from the cemeteries of the Dnieper Rapids region, Ukraine, and assesses the validity of assertions by researchers of both Ukrainian prehistory and of many European archaeologists, that males have preferential access to dietary protein sources, particularly meat, in earlier hunter-gatherer societies (Balakin & Nuzhinyi 1995).Using evidence from the archaeological, faunal, anthropological and isotopic data, alongside a consideration of the anthropological literature, an attempt is made to generate a realistic and indeed, more holistic understanding of the Epipalaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic populations of this region.Limitations in the skeletal database for earlier populations usually necessitate the integration of a wide range of parameters to ensure the generation of a realistic model for these societies. The extensive archaeological record associated with the populations under consideration enables such a study to be undertaken....