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The Living Goddesses

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( 303 ratings, 28 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Living Goddesses encapsulates the pioneering work of Marija Gimbutas, presenting her groundbreaking interpretation of prehistoric European civilisation. Challenging traditional archaeology, Gimbutas reconstructs ancient goddess-centred societies that existed long before patriarchal cultures. This volume combines her lifetime of research with recent discoveries and insights, including editor Miriam Robbins Dexter's annotations and summaries. The accessible first part outlines "Old European" religion and the roles of males and females in matrilineal cultures, while the second explores the enduring legacy of these goddesses in modern times.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for students and readers interested in archaeology, ancient religions, feminist studies, and prehistoric cultures.

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Marija Gimbutas wrote and taught with rare clarity in her original - and originally shocking - interpretation of prehistoric European civilization. This volume, which was close to completion at the time of her death, contains the distillation of her studies, combined with new discoveries, insights, and analysis.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

This text crowns a lifetime of influential work by one of the 20th-century's most remarkable scholars. Marija Gimbutas wrote and taught with rare clarity in her original—and originally shocking—interpretation of prehistoric European civilization. Gimbutas flew in the face of contemporary archaeology when she reconstructed goddess-centered cultures that predated historic patriarchal cultures by many thousands of years.

The Living Goddesses, which was close to completion at the time of her death, contains the distillation of her studies, combined with new discoveries, insights, and analysis. Editor Miriam Robbins Dexter has added introductory and concluding remarks, summaries, and annotations.

The first part of the book is an accessible, illustrated summation of all Gimbutas's earlier work on "Old European" religion, together with her ideas on the roles of males and females in ancient matrilineal cultures. The second part of the book brings her knowledge to bear on what we know of the goddesses today—those who, in many places and in many forms, live on.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Library Journal praises the book as "wide-ranging and fascinating," noting it should intrigue curious readers and delight feminist scholars.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780520229150

Publisher: University of California Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 12 January 2001

Country: United States

Imprint: University of California Press

Illustration: 130 b-w illustrations and 1 map

Contributors:

  • Edited by Miriam R. Dexter

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 18.0mm

Weight: 544g

Pages: 306

About the Author

Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994) was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Curator of Old World Archaeology at what is now the Fowler Museum of Cultural History. She is the author of Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, 7000-3500 b. c. (California, 1982) and coauthor, with Joseph Campbell, of The Language of the Goddess (1995). Miriam Robbins Dexter, who holds a Ph.D. in Indo-European studies from UCLA, is a lecturer in the Honors Collegia and in the Program in Women's Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is author of Whence the Goddesses: A Source Book (1990).

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