科學家稱：遠古時代男主內女主外

Scientists may finally have confirmed what every woman has always suspected. Even back in prehistoric times, the female of the species was very much the boss. A study has found evidence of "alpha cavewomen" roaming the plains and calling the shots while the menfolk slobbed at home。

Alpha cavewoman appears to have travelled far wider than her male counterpart, the research showed. She might even have been the one who went out clubbing, so to speak – reversing the popular conception that it was the bloke who bashed the girl on the head and dragged her home by the hair。

But something seems to have happened to the evolution of the species after those times between 1.7million and 2.4million years ago. A couple more millennia would have to pass before female independence re-emerged with the liberation of the Swinging Sixties。

The findings, detailed in the journal Nature, were made by Oxford University researchers and an international team of scientists. Using lasers and advanced technology, they analyzed enamel from fossilized teeth found in cave systems in South Africa。

Oxford professor Julia Lee-Thorp said the difference between males and females was "completely unexpected"。

Her team measured the strontium isotope ratios in canine and third molar teeth in 11 Paranthropus individuals from the Swartkrans cave, as well as in teeth from eight Australopithecus africanus individuals from the nearby Sterkfontein cave. The researchers also measured the strontium in 170 plants and animals currently living near the caves to get a sense of the different strontium signatures of the region。

Analysis of their teeth showed whether or not individuals were local or had arrived from another area. More than half the female teeth were from outside the region, compared to about 10 percent of the male teeth, the international team of researchers found。

The experts concluded that most males lived and died in their birthplaces, while females were more likely to find new homes。

Modern humans, who are influenced by relatively recent cultural practices such as marriage and property ownership, are difficult to compare to our early ancestors, a professor added。科學家稱：遠古時代男主內女主外

而一位教授補充說，現代人類因爲受到婚姻以及財產等近代文化內涵的束縛，已很難像我們祖先那樣生活。

科學家終於確認了每個女人都曾懷疑的事情。那就是，早在史前時代，女性就是“大老闆”了。一項研究發現了“阿爾法穴居女性”的存在證據，證明了遠古時期女性在外縱橫捭闔，而男性只是“窩”在家裏。

研究發現，“阿爾法穴居女性”似乎比同時代男性跋涉範圍更廣。她甚至還有可能外出聚會，可以說顛覆了傳統認知：女子一旦出門，男子就要對其劈頭蓋臉一頓打，最後扯着她的頭髮拉回家。

但是這樣的日子只是從240萬年前持續到170萬年前，在人類接下來的進化過程中一些事情發生了。至“搖擺六十年代”解放運動以及隨之而來再次出現的女性獨立潮，成千上萬年轉瞬即逝。

詳盡的研究結果刊載於《自然》雜誌。研究由牛津大學研究人員和跨國科學家團隊聯合執行。通過激光和先進技術，他們分析了南非幾處穴居內古人類牙齒化石的琺琅質。

牛津大學教授茱莉亞稱男性和女性的分析結果差異“完全出乎意料”。

她的團隊計算了瓦特克朗洞穴內11個巴蘭猿人、 斯托克方丹洞穴附近出土的8個非洲南猿的犬齒和第三臼齒的鍶同位素比值。研究人員還測量了現居住在上述洞穴附近的170種植物和動物的鍶含量，以獲取該地區不同水平的鍶特徵。

牙齒分析可顯示主人是否爲本地人，是否來自其他地區。而跨國研究小組發現，超過一半的女性牙齒主人來自其他地區，而來自地區的男性牙齒主人只佔10%。

專家故而得出結論，大部分男性生老病死於出生地，而女性更有可能遷往新居。