It is a site which offers visitors a dive into the heart of Prehistory, between its reconstructions of Neolithic houses, its assegai throwing sessions using a thruster, its flint knapping or fire lighting demonstrations. fires, and scientific information popularized by enthusiasts.
The lakeside village of Gletterens, in Broye, launches its season on Sunday. For the occasion, various activities are planned between 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. around this theme: women throughout Prehistory.
From gatherer to hunter
The public is particularly invited to participate in a workshop to reflect on the clichés we have about prehistoric women, and the evolution of representations over the different periods of Prehistory.
“In the 19th century, prehistoric women were absent, invisible in the representations,” explains François Rossel, ethnologist and prehistory presenter. Then gradually, we moved from the woman lurking at the bottom of the cave, fearful, remaining near the children, to a woman gatherer and responsible for collecting food, from the second half of the 20th century, before arriving today at the woman hunter, equal to man.”
Representations which evolve, therefore, according to changes in mentalities and the vision of women of each era and which “speak more of the period of the speaker than of the prehistoric woman in herself”, according to the host.
How can we find out how women lived thousands of years ago? “Already, archaeologists can determine the sex of a prehistoric person when they have in front of them the well-preserved bones of the pelvis or inner ear,” replies François Rossel.
Then, it is possible to know, or rather to try to imagine how this person thought, how they dressed, what their activities were, by closely observing the wear of the bones or the material found in the tombs.
But be careful, warns the ethnologist: “We’re walking on eggshells. There are a lot of hypotheses, interpretations, speculations, because in fact we know very little.”
Manual activities
This Sunday, in addition to this discussion on the clichés sticking to the skin of the prehistoric woman, the public will also be invited to make statuettes out of clay, poplar bark or soapstone. Statuettes of female representations from different periods of Prehistory, such as Venus.
He will also be able to participate in the manufacture of a half-masculine, half-feminine stele. Work which will continue this summer. The Lakeside Village welcomes 14,000 visitors each year
RadioFr. – Maëlle Robert
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