- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Warner Books (21 Mar 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0446525464
- ISBN-13: 978-0446525466
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.7 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,067,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
WARRIOR WOMEN weaves science, mythology and mystical cultures into a bold new historical tapestry of female warriors, heroines and leaders who have been left out of the history books...until now. From China to Celtic lands, warriors, priestesses and matriarchs come to life in this accessible and dramatic account of one archaeologist's search for the truth. Jeannine Davis-Kimball, a real-life Indiana Jones, recounts her exciting and dangerous career uncovering the real story behind Amazons, banshees and mummies. Within all these groups, Davis-Kimball has uncovered an entire ancient class of courageous women who played vital and respected roles. WARRIOR WOMEN is the first mainstream book to explore the lost world of women warriors that stretches from Europe to Asia. What emerges is not only a thrilling and exotic ride, but a provocative re-examination of gender roles for the 21st century.
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First Sentence
In 1985, I had my first, long-awaited glimpse of the land of the nomads. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In 1985, I had my first, long-awaited glimpse of the land of the nomads. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I started to read this book for resesearch for a dissertation and found that this book opened a whole new world up to me which I had not considered as really existing before.
The book is accessible to anyone, from archaeologist to classics nut, and there is no problems with technical jargin to get in the way of the text. I would recommend this book to anyone who has even a passing interest in ancient culture, but most especially to anyone who wishes to explore the world of female warriors in a context different to the more accustomed Amazons or Celtic female warriors. Wonderful Book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
17 reviews
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
An Insightful Journey with an Experienced Guide...
5 May 2004
Format:Paperback
I must admit that I was delighted to find this book, not just because the title intrigued me, but, more importantly, because I first became familiarized with Davis-Kimball's work when I was teaching a Women's Studies class and this was the first "print" copy of her findings that I came across. Even those who don't know who Jeannine Davis-Kimball is, probably do know something about what she has done. Davis-Kimball was the first person to uncover hard archeological evidence that the Amazons of Greek legend did, in fact, exist. But unlike common misconceptions that attempt to place the Amazons everywhere in the world from Southern Europe to the South American jungles, the "real" Amazons were nomads from the outer reaches of the Russian world; Davis-Kimball's excavations at Pokrovka uncovered female burials with large caches of weapons. Kimball goes on to link the importance of the findings with evidence from the ancient Greeks, and then goes on to trace her work on the larger canvas of world history. Academic, but accessible, this is a highly recommended work from a woman who has led a fascinating life.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Move over, Indiana Jones
7 Mar 2002
Format:Hardcover
Dr. Jeannine Davis-Kimball discovers her passion for archaelogy late in life and desires to excavate the Kurgans of the Eurasian people. When fellow archaeologist Leonid Yablonsky invites her to join an American-Russian team working at Pokrovka on the Russian-Kazakstan border, she gets her chance. As the dig progresses, Davis-Kimball, Yablonsky and the rest of the team unearth the remains of male warriors, men buried with children, warrior women, priestesses, warrior-priestesses, and hearth women. The roles of these ancient individuals are assigned based on the grave goods buried with them. Dr. Davis Kimball writes: "It could not have been more fortuitous for me that the Early Nomads believed their possessions had to be included in their graves." This is the focus point of the book. Starting with the finds at Pokrovka, Dr. Davis-Kimball follows every possible thread in time and space, to give us as complete as possible a picture of the Eurasian people in general and the lives of the women in particular--not just the warrior women, but the priestesses and hearth women as well.
Dr. Davis-Kimball states that the Indiana Jones myth of archaeology must be dispelled, and then she goes on a series of travels and adventures (all wonderfully written) that would have daunted even that fictional hero, who I don't think could have faced the KGB with the intelligence and patience she does. Her travels take her from Northern Ireland to western China. She travels in history from about 4000 B.C.E. to the modern day. She visits dozens of museums, many countries, and even lives with a modern day family of nomads.
It seems that Dr. Davis-Kimball was motivated to write a book about women, and specifically about warrior women, only after she realized that warrior women's graves had been excavated for over 50 years by other archaeologists, and then the women were all but forgotten. She writes:"I was frustrated by the lack of interest exhibited by many historians and archaeologists regarding the status of women in the societies they studied." And: "I understood that women of high status were hidden in the shadows of traditional interpretations. It was time to launch a treasure hunt." Her gift to the world is to simply tell the truth about what she, and others, have discovered.
For those who saw the NOVA documentary about "The Mysterious Mummies of China", (the caucasoid mummies discovered in China's Xinjiang province), Dr. Davis-Kimball was invited to be part of that documentary team, and there is an excellent chapter in her book that tells the story behind the documentary.
Dr. Davis-Kimball is gracious in giving credit to others. There must be several hundred names in this book of the people she has worked with, or whose work she has studied. There is even a touch of romance as she writes praisingly of her husband (an engineer) who was part of the team at Pokrovka, and who accompanies her in her numerous travels.
And finally, this book was an inspiration, that growing old does not mean growing stale, and that, even late in life, a person can become what he or she truly wishes to be.
Equal parts archaeology, adventure, autobiography, travelogue, this is history at it's readable best.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Central Asian Women
17 Feb 2002
Format:Hardcover
"Women Warriors" is fascinating -- the story of a woman archeologist, Jeannine Davis-Kimball, who, in her sixties, became an archeologist in Central Asia. It's partly autobiographical, with descriptions of her travels in Kazakstan, Mongolia, and Western China, and partly science, with descriptions and photographs of her findings. --- These, all things considered, are startling: burials of women with weapons, arrow heads, elaborate costumes, and devices, like bronze mirrors, for divination. Also gold (sometimes lots of it) as well as bronze castings decorated in the so-called "Animal Style." Davis-Kimball argues (modestly enough, I think) that these finds suggest that at least some women had high rank and status in their nomadic societies, and were probably warriors and priestesses. contrary to long-held assumptions by historians that these steppe societies were ruled by men and by male, horse-riding warriors. --- She also has a bibliography, so that anyone who wants to read the original technical papers can find them. "Women Warriors" is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the history of religions, of gender, and of Central Asia.
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