s farming shiftedto agriculture proper. At horticulture stage, the farming of these early people was for the purpose ofproviding enough food for the family. In these farms, women were able to farm the landswithout much aid. Instead, they used simple small hand tools to do the work. However,once the farms grew in size and they had a surplus of food, they required more help. Gradually, as the farms grew, there was a shift from merely farming to provide for thefamily, to farming for economic profit as well. As a result, Boulding argues that womenwere no longer the main workers on the farm. Women continued to help the development of the Agricultural Revolution despitetheir role change. Originally, women used digging sticks for gathering, planting, andgrowing plants. As the farming purpose changed, however, the tools changed as well. The plow and animals were used for cultivation, making women less visible on the field. Yet, women continued to help by creating baskets and discovering pottery, all of whichenabled them to store more grain.The importance of women during this time period was reflected on their statuswithin their society. Many of the tribes were "matrilocal", the eldest women and herchildren held much of the familys property. The power was held with the women. Inaddition, the men lived separately from the women and children. Yet as farming changedto agriculture proper, the homes were combined and there were more interactions betweenthe husband and wife. According to Boulding, women were fundamental in initiating the AgriculturalRevolution. The author describes the many contributions women made during the thisrevolution and the impact that they had on society. Boulding makes it clear that womenwere highly influential players in the transformation of the nomadic society to theagricultural one, but their role became less obvious when society shifted from a lifestyle offarming for sustenance to one that farmed for economic p...
