« More than the hunting and the contribution of meat, it is the invention of fire, cooking and habitat that engage the nascent humanity in the current of biocultural evolution: it is the "home" in all its meanings. Cooking, it has been said, detoxifies vegetable and meat foods, tenderizes them, reduces chewing load and promotes digestion. The biological and physiological consequences are considerable, including the reduction in the size of the teeth and face and that of the large intestine. Cooking and more regular access to good quality proteins provide available calories for brain development and cognitive functions. We know the complex interactions between the brain, the intestine, sometimes called the "second brain," and the microbiota. All these changes with Erectus have two consequences: on the one hand, the increase in brain size and the obstetric dilemma, mentioned above- not to mention the thermoregulation factors associated with intense physical activities - and, on the other hand, the social response to these phenomena - community reproduction. We see that, contrary to what the classic reconstructions of the man-hunter, manufacturer of tools and culture that relieve us of our natural condition, suggest, technical and cultural innovations are actually the causes of our biological transformations. Since Erectus, behavioural and cultural factors have become themselves engines of evolutionary transformation: biology and culture weave increasingly complex interactions, even in the most fundamental aspects of what humans are, starting with reproduction. »

« In Italy, in the south of France, in the Iberian Peninsula, the traces of violence and worsening of the condition of women go hand in hand with the fact that they are increasingly represented by their sexual characters, while men are increasingly shown in prestigious activities such as hunting and war. »

« As for human matriarchal societies, in an exciting ethnographic survey of all continents, Goettner-Abendroth provides the following table: All current matriarchal societies are agricultural. They are matrilocal and matrilineal. Social status is transmitted from mother to daughter, often the youngest. The opposite is true in patriarchal societies with the transmission of parentage to the eldest son. Women hold the sacred power, a legacy passed down from mothers to daughters from the mother goddess of origins. There is no private property, but collective ownership. However, there is often confusion between community, economic and political aspects of the status of collective property. Clan-to-clan marriages avoid the division of land and/or collective herds, often with systematic cross-marriages between two or more clans according to very complex rules. Men can either move into the wife's family home or alternate with their clan's residence. - There is no genetic paternity but social paternity. It was because of confusion between the two types of fatherhood, already distinguished by Morgan and Darwin, that after Bronislaw Malinovski's work in the Trobriand Islands Western societies believed that these men had no idea of genetic paternity, which is not true. We have seen that monkeys and great apes in general have a good perception of fatherhood or lack of fatherhood, and we see the consequences in their behaviour towards young people. By creating a situation where men are not certain of paternity or non-paternity, the practice of social fatherhood reduces sexual coercion. Women do not practice sexual exclusivity (sexual polyandry) and there is no jealousy. On this point, one can be dubious, as Darwin was, knowing the universality of the behaviors of the males of other species. But we have seen that in monkeys and great apes, polyandry helps to limit the risk of infanticide because of the uncertainty of kinship. These societies, all agricultural, live in balance with their environment. Nice idea, again, but probably quite naïve, even if it is very common in ecology. The populations of different species in the same ecological community are changing their environment, and so are all human societies, including traditional peoples, to a lesser degree than agricultural societies. It is, of course, quite different with industrial companies. Beliefs refer to a mother goddess or similar deities. Cultural practices involve sacrifices of surplus male animals. A s e l e c tion reminiscent of that of the breeders and, according to myths, the one that the Amazons would have practiced between men. If women who hold sacred power decide which animal to sacrifice, it is nevertheless a man who takes care of the sacrifice. - There are no forces of social coercion such as the police, the army, the judiciary. Women are at the origin of agricultural technical innovations, textiles and the design and manufacture of houses. Men represent the interests of the community in external relations, mandated by the assembly or the authority of women. »