London, June 2 (IANS) Early species of cavemen who roamed the earth two million years ago did not go to work but stayed at home and looked after the kids, while their females earned bread for the family, says a new research.
Archaeologists have found out that males of two varieties of ‘hominids’ – species which walked on two legs – roamed a much smaller area than their females, the Daily Express reported.
Scientists calculated the movements of the extinct Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus by analysing levels of strontium in their tooth enamel.
The element is found in rocks and soil and absorbed by plants and animals in the immediate vicinity.
Strontium levels in tooth enamel reveal what the cavemen had eaten, and where they had been, the scientists say.
More than half of female teeth analysed were from outside the local area compared to just one in 10 among males.
The researchers analysed 19 teeth dating back 2.7 to 1.7 million years from two sets of South African caves around a kilometre apart.
Study author Sandi Copeland from the University of Colorado said: ‘Here we have the first direct glimpse of the geographic movements of early hominids, and it appears the females preferentially moved away from their residential groups.’
