Mostly because men prohibited women from doing it. When coal mining opened up to hiring women in the US in the 1970s, there were 30,000 women in that industry 10 years later. Today, worldwide, about 40% of entry-level mining jobs are held by women.

In the Middle Ages, women who did construction work were considered slightly above prostitutes in status. At some point, women just were banned from construction work entirely.

New research indicates that ancient women hunted just as much as men, and that there was really no gendered labor - men gathered as well. Patriarchal norms tend to cloud our understanding of what is "natural."

https://medium.com/inside-of-elle-beau/did-men-actually-build-the-world-ccdf5950530c