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Rating: 
Summary: Frost and thunder upon humanity's fruiting tree-flowers
Review: Gimbutas has unsheathed from history's husk, the weed-seed of modern thorns. She lays bare the dark battle obsessed mind-set that bruised and nearly rooted out 'the adoration of life principle' that drove the path of Europe's ancestors, and eventually entangled it with vengeance. The briars were invasive Indo-European peoples, who razed the united civilization of prehistoric Europe to near oblivion. They were a war-hungry, unrefined, pirating people from the Russian steppes. These people stole metallury technologies from Europe and twisted them from plough-share to sword, literally. Gimbutas is not the first, but the most studious, in piecing together the signature significances within uncovered archeological artifacts that assert such evidence. Many earlier archeologists had already captured the story within old stone, and explained it as Gimbutas does, prior to her revelations-'Man in Prehistory', Prof. Chard, Univ. of Wisc. 1969, and a score of others similarly acclaimed. New dendrochronology and improved carbon-dating techniques using centuries old rare pines have now proven her time-lines; disproving the sequential-inventions concept of her opponents. What truly makes this book incredible, although,is not the historical revision(others pay more to this); it is the incredible vision she gleans of their world-view through symbol-relations she has belaboured over. this book is tribute to Europe's 3500-year fruition of peaceful prosperity, derived from seed of another world-view ( and early humanity's earliest religion concept, the 70,000 years of a God who gives Birth and nurtures!
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Summary: Inspirational
Review: It's been a few years since I read this, but I remember that it sparked a small burst of artistic activity for me. We can argue whether everything in it is factually true, as one reviewer said, we may never really _know_, but Gimbutas' interpretation certainly deserves consideration. It offers a counter-balance to the traditional patriarchal view of prehistory which is just as likely to be biased and wrong. I found Gimbutas' theories on the origin of writing very believable.
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Summary: Ignorance is bliss only when kept to oneself
Review: Marija Gimbutas and Joseph Campbell are internationally recognized authorities on myth, symbol, and - in her case -archeology. It concerns me that an anonymous reviewer chooses to bash this book without indicating some authority for doing so. I suspect the lack of this authority may account for the anonymity. Regardless of one's political stance or one's bias regarding gender, this is a high-quality, highly educational book. It is not easy to read, nor are easy things worth much. It may offend some persons whose perspectives it challenges - so does, has, and will the Bible, which most of the folks who object to this book are fond of. Gimbutas and Campbell both color outside the lines of what I tend to identify as the Matrix. It is my deepest desire that they continue.
Rating:
Summary: Ignorance is bliss only when kept to oneself
Review: Marija Gimbutas and Joseph Campbell are internationally recognized authorities on myth, symbol, and - in her case -archeology. It concerns me that an anonymous reviewer chooses to bash this book without indicating some authority for doing so. I suspect the lack of this authority may account for the anonymity. Regardless of one's political stance or one's bias regarding gender, this is a high-quality, highly educational book. It is not easy to read, nor are easy things worth much. It may offend some persons whose perspectives it challenges - so does, has, and will the Bible, which most of the folks who object to this book are fond of. Gimbutas and Campbell both color outside the lines of what I tend to identify as the Matrix. It is my deepest desire that they continue.
Rating: 
Summary: POOR SCHOLARSHIP, POORER THEORY
Review: That someone could rise to such heights in academia in any country really speaks volumes for how much Academia has fallen in the last 20 years. Classical education and a devotion to Science are gone. Instead we have the metaphysical ramblings of someone with an axe to gind. The central assertion that Goddess Cults predominated in society from 6th to the 3rd Millenium has NO Empirical basis whatsoever. It reminds one of the metaphysical Aryan theories of that suffused Europe in the mid-19th Cen, finding their most fantastic expression in Nazi Ideology. Like Aryanism and the Nazi cult it serves to anchor a tenet of dogma in a percieved empirical event. Such may be seen as comforting for those who are not willing to put in the intellectual challenge to come up with better ideas (or be content to admit that we just do not know what happenned in the 6th Millenium B.C.). Facts are seletively gleened and selectively interpreted. There are in fact just as many male (phallic) emblems that have been found in Asia Minor than those that could be referred to as Goddess symbols. As a matter of fact cattle images are the major emblems that see in vast profusion all over Europe -- yet no one makes the assertion that the earth was ruled by a cattle cult -- why would we do so for a "Goddess Society." The fact truly is this; we know relatively nothing of the times that Gimbutas tells of. Those times are far beyond the pale of history so that making blanket assertions like Gimbutas is fallacy of the first degree. Not even worthy of a 1st year Freshman, much less the chair of an esteemed institution. I read the book to gain a better idea of the ideas of contemporary feminism --- I sincerely hope this is not the standard applied. Profoundly dissapointing.
Rating:
Summary: A GOOD BOOK FOR MOTHER EARTHERS AND OTHER AIRY-FAIRY TYPES
Review: This book is a must-have for anyone interested in symbolism and imagery, as it presents some of the oldest decorative markings ever scratched into stone, bone, and wood. Most of the images, reproduced in line drawings and black-and-white photos, are taken from Neolithic European village sites dating back as far as 7,000 B.C. Thus they are, for the most part, a product of agricultural cultures. However, there is a striking similarity between some of these marks and those found on relics from Paleolithic hunter-gatherer sites, some of which are shown in this book. The link between the images from Neolithic and Paleolithic sites arises at least in part from those cultures' shared worship of the Goddess. Gimbutas manages to present the world-view of the Goddess people by careful attention to the symbols, their meanings, and the cultural context of the objects on which they were found. I found it difficult to read this book straight through. Rather, I took it chapter by chapter, in a non-linear way. As each chapter focuses on a separate group of symbols, such as Net, Streams, Snake, etc., it works well to pick the symbol you feel drawn to and read from that for a while. That way, the symbols become part of your symbol vocabulary in an organic way, through slow digestion. Reading quickly through the book will give you a left-brain overview of these marks, but they probably will not resonate in the psyche much. This book is wonderful for textile artists, potters, painters, poets, anyone interested in creating from the deeper, farther parts of our shared history. These are powerful symbols for study, which come alive when given careful attention.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful collection of ancient European images and symbols.
Review: This book is a must-have for anyone interested in symbolism and imagery, as it presents some of the oldest decorative markings ever scratched into stone, bone, and wood. Most of the images, reproduced in line drawings and black-and-white photos, are taken from Neolithic European village sites dating back as far as 7,000 B.C. Thus they are, for the most part, a product of agricultural cultures. However, there is a striking similarity between some of these marks and those found on relics from Paleolithic hunter-gatherer sites, some of which are shown in this book. The link between the images from Neolithic and Paleolithic sites arises at least in part from those cultures' shared worship of the Goddess. Gimbutas manages to present the world-view of the Goddess people by careful attention to the symbols, their meanings, and the cultural context of the objects on which they were found. I found it difficult to read this book straight through. Rather, I took it chapter by chapter, in a non-linear way. As each chapter focuses on a separate group of symbols, such as Net, Streams, Snake, etc., it works well to pick the symbol you feel drawn to and read from that for a while. That way, the symbols become part of your symbol vocabulary in an organic way, through slow digestion. Reading quickly through the book will give you a left-brain overview of these marks, but they probably will not resonate in the psyche much. This book is wonderful for textile artists, potters, painters, poets, anyone interested in creating from the deeper, farther parts of our shared history. These are powerful symbols for study, which come alive when given careful attention.
Rating: 
Summary: The last gasp of an aged, dated theory
Review: This is a good book and worthy of reading. HOwever, one must remember that Gambutas' interpretation of archeological findings are far from unchallenged. The idea of a "peaceful matriarchy" is challenged by many various archeologists and historians, as is the idea that the Goddes cult reigned alone in earlier years. While referring to various Venus statues, Gambutas tends to ignore other symbols and artefacts (the various cave paintings showing a "half man/half beast" comes to mind) that are equally old. To paraphrase (and slightly modified) Hilda Davidson in "Roles of the Northern Goddes" (which I consider a more balanced book), Gambutas' interpretations and research merit much consideration, but should not necessarily taken as the whole gospel.
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Summary: Gimbutas is great
Review: This is a truly wonderful book by a now deceased author. Marija Gimbutas was a fine scholar (chair of European Archeology at UCLA), and if she were alive today, would gladly take part in the storm of response that her ideas on prehistoric religion have inspired. All such scholarly theories require work and refinement, and the ideas presented in this book are no exception. There is, however, no other single text on the subject of early human religion that I think is more important. Read it, love it, and give it to all your friends.
Rating:
Summary: Gimbutas is great
Review: This is a truly wonderful book by a now deceased author. Marija Gimbutas was a fine scholar (chair of European Archeology at UCLA), and if she were alive today, would gladly take part in the storm of response that her ideas on prehistoric religion have inspired. All such scholarly theories require work and refinement, and the ideas presented in this book are no exception. There is, however, no other single text on the subject of early human religion that I think is more important. Read it, love it, and give it to all your friends.
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