(NewsNation) — When people think of prehistoric times, they usually imagine men ready to hunt while women gather supplies nearby, but new research published in “Scientific American” and two papers in the journal “American Anthropologist” shows this wasn’t necessarily the case.

Using a variety of evidence found in stone tool creation and function, diet, art, anatomy and burials, University of Delaware anthropology professor Sarah Lacy and her colleague, Cara Ocobock, found few facts to support the idea roles were assigned specifically to each sex.

Instead, they saw examples of equality for both genders in all these aspects of Paleolithic life.

The two friends from graduate school collaborated after “complaining about a number of papers that had come out that used this default null hypothesis that cavemen had strong gendered division of labor,” Lacy said in a news release.

“We were like, ‘Why is that the default? We have so much evidence that that’s not the case,’” Lacy said.

Both researchers examined the division of labor according to sex during the Paleolithic era, which occurred approximately 2.5 million to 12,000 years ago.

Lacy and Ocobock found that while men have an advantage over women in activities essential for hunting that need speed and power, like sprinting and throwing, women are better at endurance skills such as running.

The hormone estrogen, more prominent in women than men, can increase fat metabolism, giving muscles a “longer-lasting energy source.” They can also regulate muscle breakdown.

Scientists say estrogen receptors, which are proteins that direct the hormone to the right place in the body, can be traced back to 600 million years ago, according to the news release.

“When we take a deeper look at the anatomy and the modern physiology and then actually look at the skeletal remains of ancient people, there’s no difference in trauma patterns between males and females, because they’re doing the same activities,” Lacy said.

Another fact that supported Lacy and Ocobock’s theory is that people often lived in small societies during the Paleolithic era.

“You have to be really, really flexible,” she said. “Everyone has to be able to pick up any role at any time. It just seems like the obvious thing, but people weren’t taking it that way.” 

Although the idea that man was the sole hunter continues to influence the way people think, Lacy hopes that with more research, the idea that labor was divided among both sexes will become the default in the future.