Archaeologists from the United States of America are convinced that the earliest human civilizations were matriarchal. Researchers, as reported by the RIA Novosti news agency, have outlined their findings in this regard on the pages of Nature Communications.
The theory of the dominant matriarchy among the first human communities is not new; similar assumptions appeared in the nineteenth century. Recently, however, many scientists began to doubt that the first civilizations that replaced the primitive system were matriarchal.
The employees of the University of Pennsylvania, headed by Douglas Kennett, managed to dispel doubts. Scientists have concentrated on studying the biological material of the Pueblo Indians who inhabited the territory of the modern United States several thousand years ago.
Analysis of DNA fragments recovered from the bones of long-dead Indians showed that members of the nobility (their scientists were able to distinguish from the rest thanks to much richer burials) have the same mitochondrial DNA.
Mitochondrial DNA, if anything, is inherited from the mother, because male germ cells do not contain mitochondria. So, the same mitochondrial DNA of the noble Pueblo Indians indicates that power in their communities was controlled by women.
Kolesnikov Andrey