There is a debate as to whether of not matriarchal societies existed.
The Venus Figurines were found throughout Europe, indicating the possible or likely existence of matriarchal societies in as much as 7500 BC years ago. I believe there were such societies.
I have no authority to say one way or the other; however, the ones that say matriarchal societies were but a myth leave out crucial facts and seem to ignore the obvious when looking at the issue more globally and socially when considering historical gender roles and status. All I will legitimately offer is my opinion with my reasoning for concluding as such, which is that the matriarchal societies fell because of genocide by what Joseph Campbell calls the "nomadic Aryan cattle-herders from the north and Semitic sheep-and-goat-herders from the south."
Crossposted at Progressive Historians
To begin, one archaeologist from a site in Turkey concluded the following, who I think ignores the obvious.
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"I find it difficult to link all the figures and the wall paintings with the idea of a goddess," Hodder said. "I see them more as depictions of daily life, and our evidence so far doesn't suggest anything else."
Let’s go backwards in time and ask a question, framing it in about gender roles and which gender has had the most power overall for at least the last two millennia, historically speaking.
Do we live in a male-dominated society? Clearly, yes we do. Furthermore, since the Crucifixion is the point at which our time reference changes from BC to AD, was there anything equally significant after the Crucifixion that altered the face of Christianity and greatly enhanced the patriarchy? Yes, there was.
First Council of Nicaea
The purpose of the council was to resolve disagreements in the Church of Alexandria over the nature of Jesus in relationship to the Father; in particular, whether Jesus was of the same substance as God the Father or merely of similar substance.
Notice it was "God the Father;" not "Mother Goddess" or words to that effect. In addition,
Source
It (the man-made phrase "Son Of God") was thus the ideal means for separating the orthodox believers from the heretics.
I personally believe that is where Christianity ceased and gave rise to fundamentalism, notwithstanding the loyal followers of Christ’s teachings. Continuing on, remember what happened to those accused of heresy.
The use of the inquisition against heresy
Inquisition was one means by which both secular and Catholic courts addressed heresy.
And well worth noting is the fact thatthe "Patriarchs" of Constantinople did not include one woman. I can think of one female Saint, St. Mary. To be sure, there never has been a female Pope. So, I’ll ask the question again in retrospect, did they live in a male-dominated society then, too? Yes.
Going back even further, was society always male-dominated since the beginning of time and throughout human history? Similar or identical evidence produces different conclusions in the minds of Demetra George and Joseph Campbell than to Hodder and Cynthia Eller; but, before George's and Campbell's conclusions are given, here are some nondisputed matriarchal societies that existed, as instances where the "ones that say matriarchal societies were but a myth leave out crucial facts," as I stated in the introduction.
Facts about the Qualla Boundary and its people, the Cherokee
Once a matriarchal society with traditional stickball games settling disputes, a democratic form of government now exists.
I read during my research that there were no matriarchal societies in Europe; that it was a myth, as if no matriarchal cultures existed in Europe or in the Americas at that time.
Continuing on, imagine this.
Stella Georgoudi who writes about Creating a myth of matriarchy in Antiquity in A history of women in the West illuminates the historian’s view. She tries to show that the proofs for matriarchy are rather frail, based mainly on interpretation of Greek myths and Herodotus’ Histories. (See list of sources.) Her conclusion, that there was no matriarchy because of weakness of the proof, is however logically wrong. The proof of silence is not a good proof, not even in history.
To the group of matriarchies, or egalitarian societies, depending on how to define it, several Pacific and Native American cultures could be added, for example Pueblo Indians (the Zuni, Laguna and Hopi), the pre-19th century Iroquois and Innu (Montaignais-Naskapi), the Vanatinai, and Hawaii under Queen Liliuokani. Take a look at the list of matrifocal societies around the world.
Imagine that.
So, there were no matriarchal societies anywhere at any time in Europe. What about the Celts in Britain?
NATIVE ETHNICITIES WITHIN BRITAIN
The Pictish Matriarchal society was replaced forcibly by the Patriarchal society of the Scots.
See the sixth paragraph for the history of the Picti being a matriarchal society.
T.D. Kendrick. "Druids And Druidism." P.202
Dr. Pokorny (loc. cit.) adds that traces of cannibalism, matriarchy, and the couvades in legend and folklore are additional signs of the non-indogermanic religion in the British Isles from which druidism is derived.
Of course, all there ever was or will be since the beginning of human history was and is the patriarchy. Nobody but them was in the global sandbox.
To the contrary, Demetra George and Joseph Campbell will now have their say.
Demetra George. "Mysteries Of The Dark Moon." P.28.
The answers to these questions can be found in the transition from matriarchal to patriarchal culture that occurred five millennia ago. Current researchers into ancient history, working in the fields of theology, archaeology, art history, and mythology, are uncovering evidence that, starting around 300 BCE, there occurred a transition in the predominant religious and political structures that governed humanity. Matriarchal societies, which had worshiped goddesses of the earth and moon such as Innana, Ishtar, Isis, Demeter, and Artemis, gave way to patriarchal societies, which followed the solar gods and heroes such as Gilgamesh, Amen Ra, Zeus, Yahweh, and Apollo.
(Emphasis is mine)
From Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology Vol.3. 1964, Viking Press, New York p. 21-2
"For it is now perfectly clear that before the violent entry of the late Bronze and early Iron Age nomadic Aryan cattle-herders from the north and Semitic sheep-and-goat-herders from the south into the old cult sites of the ancient world, there had prevailed in that world an essentially organic, vegetal, non-heroic view of the nature and necessities of life that was completely repugnant to those lion hearts for whom not the patient toil of earth but the battle spear and its plunder were the source of both wealth and joy. In the older mother myths and rites the light and darker aspects of the mixed thing that is life had been honored equally and together, whereas in the later, male-oriented, partriarchal myths, all that is good and noble was attributed to the new, heroic master of gods, leaving to the native nature powers the character only of darkness--to which, also, a negative moral judgment now was added. For, as a great body of evidence shows, the social as well as mythic orders of the two contrasting ways of life were opposed. Where the goddess had been venerated as the giver and supporter of life as well as consumer of the dead, women as her representatives had been accorded a paramount position in society as well as in cult. Such an order of female-dominated social and cultic custom is termed, in a broad and general way, the order of Mother Right. And opposed to such, without quarter, is the order of the Patriarchy, with an ardor of righteous eloquence and a fury of fire and sword."
Moreover, the rhetoric from First Council of Nicaea still survives in word and intent in the Religious Right. Here are two more instances where the obvious seems to have been ignored, preceeded by a question.
How many patriarchal-fundamentalist's (Religious Right's) homes have goddess figures in them?
Source
"We found some fabulous new stuff last season," Hodder said, as he described the dig at layers of houses nearly 70 feet deep. "There's another 'mother goddess' figurine, and an extraordinary skull coated with plaster, colored in red and cradled in the arms of a female skeleton."
The female figures of humans even out numbered the males, and the
statuette of a majestic woman seated on what might have been a throne with her arms resting on the heads of two animals that appeared to be leopards.
To conclude, Demetra George’s words, Joseph Campbell’s words, the information in
Macrocosmic Genocide & Extermination I wrote, and the fact the male-dominated society has been in place and dominant for centuries for at least three and one half millennia that I’m aware of all lead me to my conclusion as well. I’m no world history scholar, but there have been ages that have gone into the next for catastrophic reasons, such as an asteroid or the climate changing drastically. What might be a historical equivalent? Genocide.
I’m saying that the reason for our current male-dominated society, as well as through the history of keeping women out of power religiously, politically, financially, and socially – is genocide. What might there be instead now?
Instead of or included with statues of Mother Mary might be statues of the goddess Isis. Instead of a society geared towards capitalism and the military industrial complex, agriculture, healthy practices of earth conservation and responsible use of technology might be more the norm, having applied those concepts as the Industrial Revolution brought the "innovations in technology."
All that being said, it is not denying that some matriarchal cultures and indigenous cultures had conflicts and war amongst themselves. There’s no idealization of that total history on my part, but the search is for a solution to the crisis that is now happening to the Inuit,
Environmental Human Rights & Justice: Killing The Inuit & Culture
It's no secret that US policies have caused environmental degradations and contributed to global warming. The devastating impact on Inuit communities -- which are located in Canada, Greenland, Alaska and Russia -- should be a wake-up call to the environmental crisis we face. The Inuit are suffering deaths, injuries, illnesses and losing their culture.
who I think were matriarchal as well. Whatever the case, there was gender equality, as is mentioned in the next source below.
Prior to European colonization efforts, many First Nation societies were matriarchal in nature. Missionaries and other Church officials discouraged matriarchal aspects of First Nation societies and encouraged the adoption of European norms of male dominance and control of women.
Here’s the additional information that leads me to believe that they were a matriarchy. I’m no expert on the Iniut.
Fear isn’t always "false evidence appearing real," sometimes it’s legitimate.
The point is, that as this happens.
Wet Water Shortage
As global climate change gets worse and worse, we're going to see more of this precipitation fall as rain. That will run off right away. That means winter runoff is going to grow. We're going to get more runoff in the winter periods, which is precisely the time we don't want it. We don't want a lot of winter runoff, because that's when we get the worst flooding and the worst damages from floods. At the same time what that means is that less of the snowpack is going to be available to run off in the spring and the summer. And so runoff in the spring and the summer is going to decrease. We're going to get less runoff at the time of the year when we need it the most. This is the worst of both possible worlds.
I hope the cultural wisdom of matriarchal cultures, indigenous cultures, and all peaceful or at least more peaceful cultures in general will be drawn upon in order to not more so repeat genocide and to halt it altogether, which seems to me to occur when there is a real or an imaginary need for survival. Water shortages and climate disintegration will necessarily create that condition, if and only if the shortages become severe enough.
Source
A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.
The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.
To completely conclude, is one last example of synchronicity between the Lakota and a prehistoric cave in France. Archie Fire Lame Deer tells briefly of his travels there with his daughter, while talking to a guide he described as a "spiritual man."
Archie Fire Lame Deer & Richard Erdoes. "Gift Of Power." pp. 277-278.
I found the image of a buffalo carved out of the living rock with water from a sacred spring flowing from its mouth. While I was contemplating this, I heard (his daughter) holler, "Daddy, quick, come here!" – There revealed a face exactly like the one my father always used during his Yuwipi ceremonies –
Then our guide said, "All this goes back thousands of years before Christianity." - (He) kept the image of a dark-skinned prophetess that nowadays is called the "Black Madonna." He told me, "They called her and her sisters witches and burned them at the stake."
"I know all about this," I said. "They called our medicine men witch doctors and shot them dead for the same reasons." He went on, "This here has survived. Few have been inside this cave. You have been chosen."