A molecular proxy for gender contrasts at the Neolithic to Bronze Age transition

Introduction

The project anthropYXX proposes an archaeogenomic exploration of the status and life of women and men during the key transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in occidental Europe. The ambition is to better understand the deep roots of gender contrasts in present-day societies.

Context

Inequalities today can be measured through economic markers, health, or education levels. As these metrics are not directly accessible in prehistoric periods, alternative proxies have to be exploited to trace back the emergence of inequalities. These include:

• Data from ethno-archaeology and anthropobiology
• Traditional isotopic analyses
• Interpretation of funerary practices and artistic representation

Methodology

The project anthropYXX proposes to add palaeogenomics to the current gender archaeology toolkit. More specifically, anthropYXX aims at leveraging the latest advances in ancient genomics applied to a rich collection of protohistoric human remains. This will be combined with isotopic data to better picture the contrasted life of women and men through the reconstruction of:

1. Family structures
2. Inbreeding levels
3. Residential rules

Health Assessment

The health status of the women and men, along with their associated microbes, will be assessed. The development of innovative approaches both on the bench and in silico will enable the characterization of past DNA methylation levels and their comparison with modern data, especially at positions impacted by adverse life conditions.

Genetic Investigation

Finally, we will document the populations’ genetic heterogeneity and investigate the hypotheses of sex biases in population migrations.

Objectives

The anthropYXX project will provide a new proxy to test if:

1. Health conditions, reproductive behavior, as well as epigenetic environmental impact, were contrasted between women and men during protohistory.
2. Men and women contributed differently to the genetic makeup of European populations.
3. These contrasts were exacerbated during the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.