The Harvest (c. 1620)

For most of the year, a gendered division of labor prevailed in the village. The house and the garden were the domain of women; field work was the preserve of men. The chief exception came at harvest time, when both men and women worked in the fields. Even then, tasks were gender-specific. Men reaped the grain while women bundled it for drying and threshing. Copper engraving by Nicolaes de Bruyn (1571-1656), c. 1620.

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