The Divine Feminine

Gimbutas was an archeologist, linguist, ethnologist, sociologist and and religious historian and largely responsible for the resurgence of interest in Goddess-oriented religions.


"Through an understanding of what the Goddess was, we can better understand nature, and we can then build our ideologies so that it will be easier for us all to live".
Marija Gimbutas 1921 - 1994

The basis of our view of history, our starting point for our studies is the hypothesis that civilisation and written language were born together in the ancient Middle East as a result of pressure from marauders ending in feats of empire-building.

Gimbutas challenged this view by showing three things

* That Neolithic urban settlements greatly pre-dated the "first cities" of the patriarchal tradition
* That at least some of these settlements had no defensive walls, no military burials, and no artwork recording warfare
* That the decorative designs of the artwork of these cultures may actually be a sophisicated system of symbols through which ideas and values could be recorded and transmitted.

By challenging long-held views, Gimbutas also challenged the concept laid down by the Hobbesian thesis. This is the idea that "primitive man" was a murderous brute, a violent, grasping savage incapable of living in society except under systems of excessive force. Without the iron fist of the tyrant the base "instincts" of rapine and murder are rampant, and society fails.

This Hobbesian view is present in modern political structures which still assume that humans are naturally vicious and must be repressed by a strong governmental structure.

Her three best-known books are

The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe: Myths and Cult Images

The Language of the Goddess

The Civilization of the Goddess: The World of Old Europe

and all of three have stimulated vigorous and varied responses. Her interpretation of European prehistory caused shock and disdainful disbelief in some long-established quarters, her 'bias' was questioned and her conclusions dismissed as female fancy. This is the response you can expect when you challenge many traditional male assumptions.

During her life, Marija Gimbutas published nearly twenty books and over three hundred articles on European prehistory.

From 1950 to 1963, she taught at Harvard as a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, and researched early European history.