Male domination is a quasi-universal fact: more than 80 per cent of human groups are patrilineal and display strong masculine power. The Neolithic period, when agriculture and animal husbandry emerged, is without doubt one of the most important periods for understanding how and why our societies today are still configured in that way. Examining how the two fundamental social categories of men and women are formed and how they interact during this transition to the status of sedentary farmer-pastoralists represents a major challenge for research into the origins of gender inequalities.
Gender relationships in the Neolithic period have been little explored. Even so we must remain careful and base conclusions on what the available data tells us. Gender, however, only exists if it is fulfilled, if it is visible. Its material form is expressed through attributes, poses and gestures, as well as through habits and the way activities are carried out. This materiality benefits the archaeological discipline whose primary support is the analysis of the material productions of humans in all their forms: adornments, costumes and tools, eating habits, subsistence activities, etc.
One of the first European Neolithic cultures, the Linear Pottery Culture, lends itself perfectly to such an approach: many characteristics of this society are known and can be mobilised to yield the first possible pieces of information that we can formulate on the condition of women in the Neolithic.
