This chapter explores the evidence for early matriarchy among homo sapiens, focusing on midwifery practices and comparing them to chimpanzee societies. It discusses the risks and challenges faced by female chimps during childbirth and the strategies they employ to protect their newborns. The chapter also delves into the differences between chimpanzees and bonobos, highlighting their contrasting female bonds and conflict resolution methods.
The female body has been neglected in anthropological narratives, minimized in the archeological record, and excluded from modern-day clinical trials. But what if that weren’t the case? How would the scientific story of humanity change if we made women the protagonists? Cat Bohannon first asked herself that question a decade ago, and her surprising answers can now be found in a New York Times bestselling book called “Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution.”
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