For most of human history, the dinner table reflected social status. Wealthy nobles ate roast meat, drank spiced wine, and enjoyed rich, creamy desserts. Ordinary farmers lived on their own crops - grains, legumes, and seasonal vegetables. A new study tracing dietary patterns across Europe over the last 10,000 years reveals that inequality was not limited to wealth, power, or land ownership. The study found that males generally consumed more animal-derived protein than females across much of Europe, suggesting long-standing gender-based differences in access to high-status foods.
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- Evidence suggests agriculture evolved independently throughout the world.
Study Explores Gender Disparity in Food Access
Researchers suggest that cultural norms, food taboos, social roles, and unequal access to valued foods may have contributed to these dietary differences.In many historical societies, adult males often occupied privileged social and economic positions, which may have influenced access to high-status foods. By analyzing ancient human remains, archaeologists revealed a hidden history of privilege and hardship, showing how the choices available at the table often depended on where a person stood in society. The story of Europe's past is not only written in monuments and artifacts but also in the meals that sustained—or failed to sustain—its people.
(Václav Jindřich Nosecký, Michael Václav Halbax/CC BY-SA 3.0.)
A research team from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) used chemical signatures locked within ancient bones to show that the researchers argue that the pattern was widespread and persistent rather than isolated to particular communities. Titled "Dietary Inequality Marker Reveals 10,000 Years of Gender and Cultural Disparity in Europe," the study assembled a massive database by analyzing skeletal remains from 12,281 individuals across hundreds of European archaeological sites.
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According to study senior author, Michael P. Richards:
“In earlier periods, animal protein was energetically ‘expensive’ to obtain, and in later periods it often carried higher monetary costs. As a result, it likely became a higher-status food and was preferentially consumed by males.”
Richards’ colleague, Rozenn Colleter, believes that their method of combining isotopic analysis, biochemical markers, and an economic metric allowed the team to determine the increasing degree of disparity over the millennia.
A Persistent Pattern for 10,000 Years
Depiction of a feast during the de Burgh golden age at Carrickfergus Castle. Source: YorkistEarldom/CC BY-SA 4.0
A Proper Ploughman's Lunch
The European Neolithic Period generally spans roughly 7000–2000 BC, depending on region. The Neolithic showed relatively low dietary inequality compared with later periods. However, a subtle gender disparity was still present, with men securing slightly more animal protein. During the Bronze Age (3,300 to 1,200 BC), dietary inequality expanded rapidly.
This shift correlated with advancements in agricultural production and the emergence of complex social hierarchies. Technological breakthroughs—such as the widespread adoption of the plow, intensive manuring, and secondary animal products (wool and traction)—increased food surplus. Agricultural surpluses increasingly became concentrated among emerging elites, contributing to greater social differentiation.
Mattia Preti, The Wedding at Cana (17th century). (DeFacto/CC BY-SA 4.0)
Dietary inequality reached some of its highest levels during Classical Antiquity (700 BC to 500 AD). Overall class divides were wide, but the explicit dietary gap between the sexes narrowed slightly compared to earlier baseline spikes. The period coincided with the emergence of states, elite burial traditions, and increasingly stratified societies. This increase came from three geographic areas: Northern Italian sites, Greece, and Eastern European sites.
The study found substantial dietary differences between higher- and lower-status individuals during the Medieval Period (500 to 1500 AD).
Male Bias Across All Eras
Medieval ploughing scene depicting oxen pulling a plough. (Public Domain)
The study’s conclusions show a persistent male bias across all historical eras. Men generally consumed more animal-derived protein, while women relied relatively more on plant-based foods. Cultural status was generally more important than biology.
Meat was more expensive to get in terms of time, effort, and money. It became a high-status food reserved for males. Researchers suggest that food taboos, religious beliefs, social norms, and gender roles may have contributed to these differences.
Nutritious Food is Fundamental for Human Success
Access to nutritious food is fundamental for human success. The study is significant in pointing out that food access has been unequal throughout history. Meat was a highly sought-after food, and men were granted the greater share across the centuries.
Top Image: Human skeletal remains from an archaeological burial used in dietary inequality research. Source: Simon Fraser University News (2026). Source:(Robyn Stubbs/Simon Fraser University/Research Team)
By Ramsey Hardin
References
Clark, Gaby. 2026. “Who got the meat? What 10,000 years of European bones suggest about diet inequality.” Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-meat-years-european-bones-diet.html.
Colleter, Rozenn, Klervia Jaouen, Dominique Garcia, Michael P Richards, Dietary inequality marker reveals 10,000 years of gender and cultural disparity in Europe, PNAS Nexus, Volume 5, Issue 4, April 2026, pgag033, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag033
Simon Fraser University. 3036. “SFU study traces 10,000 years of dietary inequality in Europe.” EurekAlert. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1132641.
