Marija Gimbutas: A Comparative Analysis

In today's society, most men often take some type of dominant role over women, varying from higher paying jobs, certain real life stereotypes, education, etc. Although it is like this today, some societies and cultures in prehistory varied from patriarchy to matriarchy and even to gylany. Throughout my essay I will be touching on how vital women were, the roles they played in ancient times and the switch between cultures from equalitarian to patriarchal. One quote that supports one of my ideas about today's societal norms is from The Language of the Goddess by Marija Gimbutas “We are still living under the sway of that aggressive male invasion and only beginning to discover our long alienation from our authentic European heritage-gylanic,
From an excavation of Catal Huyuk, at the largest neolithic site in the Near East, excavators uncovered around 800 years of evidence and artifacts. Although a majority of it was advanced art including wall paintings, stone sculptures and large quantities of Goddess figurines made of clay, implying and focusing on the worship of the female deity it wasn’t necessarily a matriarchal society. Other evidence suggests that male dominance was not a norm and that “division of labor between the sexes is indicated, but not superiority of either,” wrote Gimbutas. “In the 53-grave cemetery of Vinca, hardly any difference in wealth of equipment was discernible between male and female graves… In respect to the role of women in the society, the Vinca evidence suggests an egalitarian and clearly non-patriarchal society…” So although women were sometimes seen as goddesses it's never been suggested that societies were ever matriarchal but more
Although the times have changed and evolved, it’s clear that parts of today's society are still similar to the neolithic period. Since that time, we as people may believe we are much more knowledgeable about where people stand in today's society, but we can't ignore the fact that men still do hold a higher role in today's life. One can only hope that we are agile enough to not allow that to happen. It can’t be ignored that women were and still are an extremely vital part of society throughout all of time. Another quote from the book, The Women’s History of the World by Rosalind Miles suggests the importance of a woman. “For man without woman there is no heaven in the sky or on Earth. Without woman there would be no sun, no moon, no agriculture and no fire.” This quote can branch off of the many beliefs of how Earth was created and that in most myths and ideology, it was a woman who created agriculture, weather and overall, life on earth. Although today’s society isn’t fully egalitarian it’s important to know the growth that has occurred and the changes throughout history that have