Having firmly established that there is no real evidence to support a matriarchal prehistory Eller admits that there is at least a chance that there was some event or occurrence that changed social organization in southeastern Europe/the Near East around 3000 BCE. She chooses to focus on the theory of a patriarchal invasion of the 'Kurgans'.
She asserts that it is possible that these invaders were possibly proto-Indo-Europeans citing linguistics and later in the chapter some suggestive genetic studies (this is one point where the age of the text is a detriment, it is possible further studies have been conducted in the 11 years since publication that might cast further light on this reasonable theory).
Base on linguistics and cultural similarities in existing and historically recorded Indo-European cultures it is believed that the proto-Indo-Europeans were semi nomadic pastoralists with some knowledge of farming and a tripartite classed society. It is believed that they emerged from either Anatolia or the Russian-Ukranian steppes with the steppes being more likely. Eller is careful to note that there is no way to linguistically determine if a word was borrowed from a neighboring proto-Indo-European or Indo-European group versus those that natural developed within the group because it was an offshoot or descendant of an original proto-Indo-European group.
Archeological evidence is similarly ambiguous it is probable and possible that wheeled carts and experience with horses lead to the a proto-Indo-European expansion but it is not definitive. Further she notes that usually when a large group migrates it is because their home territory has become hostile or inhospitable and they are forced to unless they are nomadic. Some archeological discoveries indicate that these people used wood for shelters which would be an inhibition on long journeys.
Interestingly myths also seem to betray a nostalgia for a mythical matriarchal past rather than the reality of one. In Greek myth, Eller notes, it is the later myths that seem to indicate a matriarchal past rather than the classical myths, she adds that even if the earlier myths indicated a matriarchal past these myths would have had to remain remarkably intact for more than two thousand years. Oral histories, even those written do not last in such a whole and untouched manner over time spans like that. Witness the many revisions and translations of the Bible in a lesser time period (especially considering the 'holy' and untouchable nature of the Bible).
Eller's conclusion is that while a proto-Indo-European invasion/take over may have possibly occurred there is nowhere near enough evidence to declare it the birth of patriarchy.
Eller, Cynthia. The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented past Won't Give Women a Future. Boston: Beacon, 2000. Chapter 8 Was There a Patriarchal Revolution?. Print.
She asserts that it is possible that these invaders were possibly proto-Indo-Europeans citing linguistics and later in the chapter some suggestive genetic studies (this is one point where the age of the text is a detriment, it is possible further studies have been conducted in the 11 years since publication that might cast further light on this reasonable theory).
Base on linguistics and cultural similarities in existing and historically recorded Indo-European cultures it is believed that the proto-Indo-Europeans were semi nomadic pastoralists with some knowledge of farming and a tripartite classed society. It is believed that they emerged from either Anatolia or the Russian-Ukranian steppes with the steppes being more likely. Eller is careful to note that there is no way to linguistically determine if a word was borrowed from a neighboring proto-Indo-European or Indo-European group versus those that natural developed within the group because it was an offshoot or descendant of an original proto-Indo-European group.
Archeological evidence is similarly ambiguous it is probable and possible that wheeled carts and experience with horses lead to the a proto-Indo-European expansion but it is not definitive. Further she notes that usually when a large group migrates it is because their home territory has become hostile or inhospitable and they are forced to unless they are nomadic. Some archeological discoveries indicate that these people used wood for shelters which would be an inhibition on long journeys.
Interestingly myths also seem to betray a nostalgia for a mythical matriarchal past rather than the reality of one. In Greek myth, Eller notes, it is the later myths that seem to indicate a matriarchal past rather than the classical myths, she adds that even if the earlier myths indicated a matriarchal past these myths would have had to remain remarkably intact for more than two thousand years. Oral histories, even those written do not last in such a whole and untouched manner over time spans like that. Witness the many revisions and translations of the Bible in a lesser time period (especially considering the 'holy' and untouchable nature of the Bible).
Eller's conclusion is that while a proto-Indo-European invasion/take over may have possibly occurred there is nowhere near enough evidence to declare it the birth of patriarchy.
Eller, Cynthia. The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented past Won't Give Women a Future. Boston: Beacon, 2000. Chapter 8 Was There a Patriarchal Revolution?. Print.
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