Women in...
Upper Palaeolithic
Between 30,000 and 10,000 BP groups of hunters, gatherers and fishers lived all over Mediterranean Europe, and were able to manage all of its natural resources.
Archaeology allows us to recognize their technical capabilities, the knapping of different types of stone (flint, limestone and other stones), and the work on bones to make tools for everyday tasks as sewing needles or bone points and harpoons to hunt for fish. In addition, we can identify the places they used to live either caves or outdoor camps.
This way of living in balance with nature, continued until the ninth millennium BP in the western Mediterranean, where a series of changes can be observed that announce the end of this lifestyle. Archaeological research still does not allow detailed knowledge of their social organization. However, the data suggest that they were societies with little or no division of labour.
Nor can we say that the predominant kinship model was based on the nuclear family. However, in some phases at the end of the Palaeolithic, the role of women and reproduction might has been especially valued as indicated by the large amount of female representations both on plaquettes and as figurines and in carvings on the walls of caves.
Paleolítico Superior - Este de la Península Ibérica. Ilustraciones: Andrés Marín
Archaeological Sites
Activities
Objects
PASTWOMEN CALENDAR
Happy 2026!
As every year, the Pastwomen calendar is here. For now, it's only available in Spanish; we'll be uploading versions in other languages in the coming days.
DOCUMENTARY AWARD
The documentary Off the Archeological Record, produced by the UAB and the Pastwomen network, has been awarded the EITB prize for gender perspective at the 25th edition of the Bidasoa International Archaeological Film Festival (FICAB), held in November 2025. To watch the documentary trailer, click here.
THE SOCIALIZATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE: FEMINIST, INCLUSIVE, AND DECOLONIAL APPROACHES
The proceedings of the Pastwomen conference, held at the Autonomous University of Madrid in November 2021, have been published. They have been edited by the conference organizers, Ana Belén Herranz Sánchez and Lourdes Prados Torreira.
For more information, click here.
