Derlet Marlene - Invisible women of the prehistory : three million years of peace, six thousand years of war

Judy Foster is an artist and (retired) teacher of art. After studying at Monash University, a chance encounter with the book The Language of the Goddess by Marija Gimbutas in 1993 inspired her to begin researching the origin and meanings of visual symbolism. She has three daughters and lives in Melbourne.

Marlene Derlet taught at the Monash Centre for Indigenous Studies from 1989 to 1993. She co-authored, with poet Kristin Henry, Talking Up a Storm (1993). Born in Switzerland, Marlene is a linguist with a background in anthropology and sociology.

INVISIBLE WOMEN OF PREHISTORY

THREE MILLION YEARS OF PEACE, SIX THOUSAND YEARS OF WAR

JUDY FOSTER

WITH MARLENE DERLET

First published by Spinifex Press, 2013

Spinifex Press Pty Ltd

504 Queensberry St

North Melbourne, Victoria 3051

Australia

www.spinifexpress.com.au

Copyright Judy Foster and Marlene Derlet, 2013

All line drawings Judy Foster, 2013

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of the book.

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Editors: Maree Hawken and Susan Hawthorne

Cover design: Deb Snibson

Typesetting: Palmer Higgs

Index: Kath Harper

Printed by McPhersons Printing Group

Front cover photo:

Kabel, Matthias (14 January 2007) Venus of Willendorf, Wikimedia Commons .

Back cover photos:

1. Wikimedia Commons (September 2008) Venus of Laussel .

2. Wikimedia Commons (December 2007) Tlatilco culture female figurines .

National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-Publication

Foster, Judy, 1934

Invisible women of prehistory: three million years of peace, six thousand years of war / Judy Foster, Marlene Derlet

9781876756918 (pbk)

9781742195483 (eBook: pdf)

9781742197913 (eBook: ePub)

9781742195513 (eBook: ePub USA)

9781742197920 (eBook: ePub UK)

Includes bibliographical references and index

WomenHistoryto 500.

WomenSocial conditions.

Prehistoric peoples.

Derlet, Marlene, 1936

305.42

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A TIMELINE OF HUMAN PREHISTORY

There are a number of landmarks indicating the emergence and development of human consciousness through the Palaeolithic era and Neolithic periods which lasted from before 2.8 million BP until after 6,000 BP. While tool-making commenced with the first hominids, Homo habilis, as far as is known at present the first symbol-making by Homo erectus did not occur until after 1 million BP. This is a largely hidden story of human societies before the advent of what is known as civilisation. The modern human story did not begin 5,500 years ago with the first recorded history!

Contrary to popular belief, the discovery of agriculture 10,000 years ago did not change the communal, innovative and peaceful lifestyle of early societies. Instead, changes were due to the emergence of invading/infiltrating Indo-European pastoralists with their ever-increasing herd animals around 5,0006,000 years later, who introduced male-dominant hierarchic social organisation, the acquisition of personal wealth, and violence, to the world.

A TIMELINE OF HUMAN PREHISTORY

*These dates are not fixed continuing new discoveries and updates frequently occur.

THE EARLIEST FEMALE FIGURINES

1. Makapansgat hominid head, Africa, 2,000,000 BP, a naturally formed pebble
(Source: Bednarik, Robert, 1998)

2. Tan Tan figurine, Morocco, 400,000 BP

3. Berekhat Ram figurine, Israel, 300,000 BP
(Source 23: Bednarik, Robert, 2001)

4. Goddess from Hohle Fels, the Scheklingen figurine, is 35,000 years old
(Source: Jensen, H., 2009)

5. Galenberg figurine, Austria, 32,000 BP
(Source: Bednarik, Robert, 1989)

6. An early Cycladic figurine