FLASH NEWS
9,000-year-old discovery of female hunter in Peru could rewrite history
2025-06-10 16:53:49 / MISTERE&KURIOZITETE
A tomb in Peru has uncovered the world's oldest female hunter. This is news with significant implications for human history, as it could change our understanding of gender relations in ancient America and even the nature of prehistoric societies.
Randy Hass, an anthropologist from the University of California, was working with his colleagues at a high site in an area known as Uilamaya Patajxa, in southern Peru, when they found six 9,000-year-old tombs containing the remains of six people. During their work, the team collaborated with the local Aymara community.
But one of the graves was not like the others. Based on the bundle of hunting tools found inside, the team initially thought it belonged to a male hunter. But the bones were very thin, light, and clearly belonged to a female.
Bio-archaeologist Jim Watson says: “I think the hunter could be female.” And in fact the grave contained the remains of a young woman who died between the ages of 17 and 19. Her gender and age were determined based on an analysis of proteins in her teeth.
Anthropologist Has told Sky News that the hunter was buried with "stone points for cutting up large animals, a knife and a rock point for removing internal organs, as well as tools for scraping and skinning."
The stone points were attached to the sticks, which were used as spears on animals with great force. The female hunter was found near the grave of a male, who was also buried with a hunting tool. The research team also found evidence of animal bones in the sediment of the grave, including Andean deer and vicuña, a type of camel.
Hass says these two animals “were the main targets of ancient hunters in that part of the Andes.” But there are skeptics about the discovery. Archaeologist Meg Conkey says that the presence of hunting tools in a grave does not necessarily mean that the deceased was a hunter.
But Has and his colleagues were prepared for this skepticism, so they undertook an exhaustive study of the research literature on 107 ancient burial sites discovered in the Americas. All of them are between 6,000 and 12,500 years old. In total, the researchers found 10 women buried with hunting tools.
Their research led them to conclude that women regularly participated in large hunts, and they made up between 30 percent and 50 percent of the hunters. Until recently, the “male hunter hypothesis” was widely accepted.
According to her, women did “women’s work,” and men engaged in activities such as hunting, and were therefore the dominant gender. This conclusion was based in part on modern studies of hunter-gatherer groups such as the Hazdat in Tanzania.
Now inspired by their groundbreaking discovery in Peru, the researchers argue that this was not the case. Hunting big game required teamwork. Therefore, women collaborated with men to ensure success on hunting expeditions.
The discovery of an ancient female hunter in Peru could transform our understanding of gender roles in the past. If women did indeed hunt alongside men, it would mean that there was more equality between the sexes in prehistoric societies.
Archaeologists have previously found evidence of a 5,000-year-old female warrior in California, while other discoveries suggest that there were female warriors in Mongol and Viking societies./ Bota.al
Happening now...
83 mandates are not immunity for Rama's friends
Nga Gentian Gaba
ideas
top
Alfa recipes
TRENDING 
services
- POLICE129
- STREET POLICE126
- AMBULANCE112
- FIREFIGHTER128