During the stone age Mesolithic man lived in both cities, practicing agriculture, and as small hunter/ herder groups. Many artifacts have been unearthed from this time period to tell archeologists how man lived and acted within their community, their values and norms. It has been discovered that both matriarchy and patriarchy were practiced in early societies. Matriarchy is the decent of a family line following the head female while patriarchy follows the line of descent through the father. While there is some controversy as to whether or not matriarchy was practiced by Mesolithic man, there is much evidence that points to it as being a part of those ancient societies.

Hunter and herder groups were migratory whereas agricultural groups were stationary. Hunter groups have always been male dominated due to the leadership nature of their lifestyle. Womens roles centered around raising the child at home while the men went out and got the food. Mens roles were thus more dominant in nature while womens roles, while equally important to the tribe, were more domesticated. Men could control their descent through control of their female. Patriarchy is thus part of a male dominated society.

It has been found that ancient societies who discovered agricultural and formed permanent settlements were the ones where matriarchy emerged.  Artifacts have been found in these early settlements to suggest that women held a very high role within society.  In the Ukraine, for example, Mesolithic man settled into small pastoral and agricultural groups. Women in these groups held a very high position in society, as is shown from the numerous statues of women, the famous Venus statues, that have been unearthed here.  Many archeologists have pointed to the findings of the Venus statues as signs that women were worshiped as the mysterious givers of life. Thus, lines of descent and thus control of the lineage was given to the head female in the household.

There are still some primitive tribes who practice matriarchy today, attesting to its existence in man’s past. Today’s matriarchal societies can give us clues to how ancient ones may have interacted. In the early 1900’s, ethnographer Bronislaw Malinowski lived among a matriarchal society in the Trobriand Islands and wrote a book of his observations called Argonauts of the Western Pacific. One of the reasons why matriarchy is thought to have been prevalent is due to a lack of understanding about where babies actually came from. The act of creation is thought to have been a mystery to early man, who may have believed women to have been magical, being able to produce life while men did not. Once there was an understanding of the male role in reproduction patriarchy would have then emerged out of the matriarchal societies.