The invisible sex : uncovering the true roles of women in prehistory

by J. M. Adovasio

2009

Status

Checked out

Call number

GN799.W66 A36

Genres

Collection

NEARA - Nashua NH

Publication

Publisher Unknown

Description

Shaped by cartoons and museum dioramas, our vision of Paleolithic times tends to feature fur-clad male hunters fearlessly attacking mammoths while timid women hover fearfully behind a boulder. Recent archaeological research has shown that this vision bears little relation to reality. J. M. Adovasio and Olga Soffer, two of the world's leading experts on perishable artifacts such as basketry, cordage, and weaving, present an exciting new look at prehistory. With science writer Jake Page, they argue that women invented all kinds of critical materials, including the clothing necessary for life in colder climates, the ropes used to make rafts that enabled long-distance travel by water, and nets used for communal hunting. Even more important, women played a central role in the development of language and social life--in short, in our becoming human. In this eye-opening book, a new story about women in prehistory emerges with provocative implications for our assumptions about gender today.… (more)

Media reviews

Feminist Review

User reviews

LibraryThing member ruinedbyreading

The authors do write based on the assumption that evolution is correct, which is something I also believe. But it isn’t necessary to believe in evolution to learn from this book. It touches base on things like language skills, becoming bipedal, and even the evolution of the birth canal. The

authors are great at putting everything into terms that any lay person can understand.

What I liked most about The Invisible Sex is that while it focuses on women, it doesn’t put down men or their role in the process of “becoming human”. They are not ignored and pushed to the side. Their roles, contributions and skills are acknowledged as well.

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LibraryThing member Devil_llama

This book attempts to correct mistaken ideas about prehistoric humans, especially concerning the role of women. In so doing, it's necessary also to correct ideas about the role of men. Overall, it's well written, easy to read, and flows nicely through the narrative. There are a few places where I

suspected certain things were added to make the book long enough, particularly the point where the authors include the stories from the Seven Daughters of Eve. These could have been summarized in much less space, but then the book might have been too short for consideration by a publisher, I suppose. There are a couple of other spots that are similarly unnecessary. In addition, there are a couple of occasions where the authors draw some rather complex and definitive conclusions from evidence that doesn't appear adequate to support that conclusion; this is ironic, since that's what they are basically accusing other writers of doing. I also felt some of the attempts to fit findings into their conclusion of egalitarian societies where women weren't necessarily oppressed were a bit labored, given the evidence they had to work with. I felt like they were twisting definitions past the breaking point in some of these cases. It's also a bit annoying whenever the ubiquitous "noble savage" comes shining through, because at some point, the noble savage myth actually ignores the true humanity of the individuals it's trying to build up. Overall, however, it's a good read and I'd recommend it for anyone skeptical enough that they don't automatically believe whoever they last read.

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LibraryThing member ritaer

There have been many changes in paleo-anthropology in the past years. New sites and new methods of examining old sites and artifacts have yielded a changed perspective on human development and the role of female hominids. Man the mighty hunter has been displaced by humans the opportunistic

scavengers and gatherers. It is unlike, the authors assert, that early humans killed herds of healthy bison, mammoths or tackled cave bears. Stone blades that were believed by earlier scientists to have killed such prey are more likely to have been used to cut meat off the bones of already dead animals. The role of the textile arts: rope and string, basketry, weaving, net-making, mostly in the hands of women, is also explored. Very interesting. However, the authors caution readers to abandon any ides of universal matriarchy or even of universal patriarchy, noting that the construction of gender roles is far more complex.

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