The First Artists Were Mostly Women / I primi artisti furono donne

Women made most of the oldest-known cave art paintings, suggests a new analysis of ancient handprints. Most scholars had assumed these ancient artists were predominantly men, so the finding overturns decades of archaeological dogma.

A study made by of Pennsylvania State University analyzed hand stencils found in eight cave sites in France and Spain. By comparing the relative lengths of certain fingers, they determined that three-quarters of the handprints were female.

Uno studio della Pennsylvania State University ha analizzato la lunghezza delle dita nelle pitture preistoriche di Francia e Spagna, giungendo alla conclusione che almeno tre quarti degli artisti erano donne.

Because many of these early paintings also showcase game animals — bison, reindeer, horses, woolly mammoths — many researchers have proposed that they were made by male hunters. This new discovery makes us think that women, even if not directly involved in killing animals, were more likely to have an important role in the hunt.

Siccome i soggetti di tali pitture sono solitamente animali come bisonti, cavalli e mammuth, gli archeologi pensavano che a dipingerli fossero stati i cacciatori, quindi gli uomini. Questa nuova scoperta porta a pensare che le donne, se pur non impegnate direttamente nell'uccisione degli animali, dovevano probabilmente avere un ruolo importante nella caccia.

Were The First Artists Mostly Women?
by Virginia Hughes
from National Geographic, OCTOBER 8, 2013
[from TheMarySue]