Hereditary Inequality Among Stone Age Farmers

Hereditary Inequality Among Stone Age Farmers

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A study of more than 300 Neolithic skeletons suggests evidence of “hereditary inequality” among farmers 7,000 years ago, researchers claim. Archaeologists from Cardiff University led a team who studied the skeletons from across Europe. They say evidence suggests farmers buried with tools had access to better land than those buried without.

Dr. Penny Bickle, of Cardiff University, said community diversity “probably occurred through inheritance, adding, “Community diversity seems to have happened very early on in the transition to agriculture and probably occurred through inheritance and kinship systems rather than individuals competing for wealth.”