The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe 6500-3500 BC: Myths and Cult Images

by Marija Gimbutas

Book Overview

In this beautifully illustrated study of sculpture, vases, and other cult objects portraying the Goddess, fertility images, and mythical animals, Marija Gimbutas sketches the matrilineal village culture that existed in southeastern Europe between 6500 and 3500 B.C., before it was overwhelmed by the patriarchal Indo-Europeans. The analysis of this rich mythical imagery tells us much about early humanity's concepts of the cosmos, of humans' relations...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520253981
• ISBN13: 9780520253988
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.2" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Love her completely and utterly! At the end of her life she was not happy with this book.

But for us ordinary folks - it is absolutely essential. Utterly brilliant. For us yahoos, it is essential, just simply essential in every possible way!

interesting theory, love gimbutas writing

You will love this book if you have a background in archeology or ancient history. But also without: I have neither, and it is still incredibly interesting to read, never dry, with a lot of illustrations. Gimbutas writing is great. she dares to state things she believes in and follows her vision and her observations, but never becomes preaching or goes overboard. scientific and entertaining at the same time, such a rare combination.

As a book exploring an alternative theory of prehistoric religion, it is a great book. Do read it.

As a layperson interested in mythology and archealogy, I did find this work to be very interesting, though over-scholarly for my taste. What was I expecting? A third-grade reader? Silly me. I choose to read it since it offers an alternate perspective to male-centric views. On that note, I wasn't disappointed. It took awhile to build the backdrop for her evidence and interpretation, but I found it was helpful to do so. Any arguement that the "art" was less than perfect or was actually pathetic ignores the nature of prehistoric art - and Ms Gimbutas does address and explain why she choose the specific illustrations; mainly, to illustrate her points and to provide a visual for her narrative. Never did she claim it to be a book on art, and it should not be read as one nor critique as if it were one. Still, the illustrations were very helpful for this non-scholar. Her assertation that original religion was goddess based I am not qualified to critque, but still, her evidence, speculations, and interpretations do give one pause for thought, especially when one realizes and accepts that history has been perceived and presented from a male point of view. I tend to think, if not Goddess based, then perhaps prehistoric societies and religions were a lot more equalitarian than was origianlly supposed. Perhaps we have a lot to learn from our ancestors. The two negative reviews that I read did the typical name-calling attack as a defense without offering constructive counter-arguements. I trust the review by the scholar to be spot-on for those with academic interest or with a scholarly bend. As for me, I will look for the middle school reader on this subject while still giving this work praise.

Poor sweethearts

It's fascinating how panicked some get when they "read" Marija Gimbutas. Here's just one example -- from another reviewer of this book: "...It is *nonsense*, pure and simple ... Gimbutas is trapped in the *foolish* ideology of the "great goddess", a *pathetic* ... reflex of contemporary political obsession.... leave it to Wiccans and other *ignorami*." Gimbutas' major theory is monumentally simple: During the early and middle Neolithic, most of southeastern Europe followed religions centering around female rather than male deity. [I can hear some of you hyperventilating already; just take a deep breath and fan yourselves.] In this and other of her books, Gimbutas serves up tons of evidence to back her theory. Rarely have I seen books so packed with concrete, clearly-presented evidence -- not only archaeological, but linguistic and mythological as well. This, folks, is what science is all about. After you offer a theory and evidence to support it, others have three options: 1, offer evidence to support the theory; 2, offer evidence to support a counter theory; 3, offer nothing. Oddly enough, sweet little Gimbutas so terrifies otherwise sane individuals that they take one look at her and opt for a fourth response: going blithering off into the sunset, arms akimbo, frothing at the mouth and mumbling things like "Nonsense!" "Ignorami!" and "Political obsession!" (God forbid, the Martians are coming!). It does give one pause. Jeri Studebaker, author of Switching to Goddess: Humanity's Ticket to the Future

important work in the field of archeology

In this book, Gimbutas lays out what will become the field of archaeomythology - breaking the archaelogical taboo of reconstructing ancient culture, and expanding the boundaries of archaeology. The work is controversial and at times over-reaches itself in drawing far-reaching conclusions from existing archaeological evidence. However, this doesn't make the work any less important.Gimbutas was a pioneer in her field, and challenged the traditional concepts we have of the origins of Western civilization. While her assertions may seem fantastical and absurd to some, they are worth exploring. Scholars in the field of anthropology have already begun to realize that women played a far larger role as hunters in early societies, and Gimbutas's work paved the way for scholars to allow the thought of an expanded role from what we perceive as traditional female gender roles.Whether you agree with her work or not, this book and others by Gimbutas are worth reading. Her theories are thought-provoking and ground-breaking, and based on years of careful research by a reknowned and respected scholar. As a scholar, I find that my opinions lie somewhere between Gimbutas and traditional ideas of the development of Western civilization - but as a scholar I also find her work incredibly important and worth reading.

Not so dusty archaeology

Amazing art and sculptures from neolithic Europe. Worthy of Henry Moore. I would love to know where I could get replicas of the sorrowful god / goddess sculptures. Fascinating discoveries about the origins of the ancient greek religion. A must for anyone interested in European mythology