Early glass ceiling

This sounds like a fun activity, Jim Jaeger .

Have students studied civilizations prior to this, or is this an opener for a unit?

My school has those very old school metal plaques that state the names of the leadership of the school... maybe those would have a fighting chance of surviving. 

It's an interesting question - and one I'd definitely would run by students to pique their interest! Did your students come up with anything interesting or of note Jim Jaeger ?

Donnetta Elsasser I believe that I have done it both ways.

Adam Esrig One that I thought was humorous was that with more people living together, you would need someone to yell a lot and they thought men might be better with that. LOL

This reminds me of the "Motel of Mysteries" fun story in which archaeologists in the future come upon ruins and discover a great throne.  I don't mean to spoil the plot but. . . the throne, the "sacred urn,"  ends up being a toilet in a collapsed hotel. Here's the story: https://creativiteach.me/2021/07/06/creative-archeology-motel-of-the-mysteries/   and Here is the actual story to give to students: https://onlinecampus.fcps.edu/media2/Social_Studies/WHGII_2010/Era1Topic2/Resources/Motel_of_Mysteries.pdf.  

Jim Jaeger there is an interesting theory developed by feminist historian Dr. Gerda Lerner in response to Friedrich Engels. Lerner posits that reproductive labor was key to men's subordination of women. In her view, children helped families produce more crops, leading to surplus and wealth. Since women's reproductive labor provided these workers, reproduction itself became a commodity. Here is a brief reference about her.

Denise Ford LOL!  I am going to have to use this one!!

Laura Massa (Title added to my Goodreads "want to read" booklist!) I went down a bit of a rabbit hole with this website. Thank you for directing me here.  In general, economic reasons played a role in this development with religion chiming in as well.  I was not familiar with Dr. Lerner before this. On a side note, I had an anthropologist join my live lesson and speak to my history students.  I had no idea how wide-ranging the anthro discipline is!  Fascinating work that they do!

Jim Jaeger I am sure your students enjoyed your anthropologist guest speaker. This article you just shared is also fantastic. I saved the link to the webesite.