The first Goddess
     What Makes Us Human
Cooking
Chattering
Telling Time
The Menopause
Division of Tasks
Choosing to Create Life
     Shamanism and Revelation
     Sex, Sexuality and Social Structure
Contemporary Examples
Polyamory
Moving Inland

Ongoing Research


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  The Foragers

What Makes us Human - The Menopause

Review "What Makes Us Human: The Menopause".

"How would grandmothers help us live longer? According to the hypothesis, grandmothers can help collect food and feed children before they are able to feed themselves, enabling mothers to have more children. Without grandmothers present, if a mother gives birth and already has a two-year-old child, the odds of that child surviving are much lower, because unlike other primates, humans aren’t able to feed and take care of themselves immediately after weaning. The mother must devote her time and attention to the new infant at the expense of the older child. But grandmothers can solve this problem by acting as supplementary caregivers."

This quote is taken from "New Evidence That Grandmothers Were Crucial for Human Evolution" by Joseph Stromberg, October 23, 2012, found on the Smithsonian.com website. Read the article .

Grandmother hypothesis

This image comes from an online lecture on the Binghamton University site, regarding this subject. Listen to the lecture.

Menopause only happens to Humans (Lucky Us) Iowa State University - original study. Posted by Fred Love - Iowa State, August 19, 2013. This interesting article comes from the Futurity - Research news from top univeristies web site. Find out more.

Revisiting the Grandmother Hypothesis: Do post-menopausal women deserve the credit for humans' long life span? by Roni Jacobson, posted February 20, 2013. This excellent article was found on the website for Scienceline, the shortest distance between you and science. Find out more.