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Women's Work The First 20000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times
"A fascinating history of…[a craft] that preceded and made possible civilization itself." —New York Times Book Review
New discoveries about the textile arts reveal women's unexpectedly influential role in ancient societies.
Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibers. In fact, right up to the Industrial Revolution the fiber arts were an enormous economic force, belonging primarily to women.
Despite the great toil required in making cloth and clothing, most books on ancient history and economics have no information on them. Much of this gap results from the extreme perishability of what women produced, but it seems clear that until now descriptions of prehistoric and early historic cultures have omitted virtually half the picture.
Elizabeth Wayland Barber has drawn from data gathered by the most sophisticated new archaeological methods—methods she herself helped to fashion. In a "brilliantly original book" (Katha Pollitt, Washington Post Book World), she argues that women were a powerful economic force in the ancient world, with their own industry: fabric.
New discoveries about the textile arts reveal women's unexpectedly influential role in ancient societies.
Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibers. In fact, right up to the Industrial Revolution the fiber arts were an enormous economic force, belonging primarily to women.
Despite the great toil required in making cloth and clothing, most books on ancient history and economics have no information on them. Much of this gap results from the extreme perishability of what women produced, but it seems clear that until now descriptions of prehistoric and early historic cultures have omitted virtually half the picture.
Elizabeth Wayland Barber has drawn from data gathered by the most sophisticated new archaeological methods—methods she herself helped to fashion. In a "brilliantly original book" (Katha Pollitt, Washington Post Book World), she argues that women were a powerful economic force in the ancient world, with their own industry: fabric.
338 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
638 people are currently reading
15226 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Wayland Barber
10 books102 followersAmerican scholar and expert on archaeology, linguistics, textiles, and folk dance as well as Professor emerita of archaeology and linguistics at Occidental College
Barber received her PhD university from Yale in 1968.
Barber received her PhD university from Yale in 1968.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 429 reviews
January 28, 2009
It took me far too long to write about this book. Barber is the most engaging of fiber-art historians, hands down. The discipline has received far too little attention for far too many years, and it is wonderful to see so well respected a scholar attack, and love, the subject. She is a weaver and general fiber-artist as well as a linguist and archaeologist. That combination of disciplines lends her rare insight. She can spot bad research miles away and can also admit when she makes mistakes in her own experimental archaeology projects. That is rare.
I first came across Barber because of her work on P.V. Glob's The Bog People, one of my favorites. I read this book slowly because I was loathe to finish it, but decided I could wrap things up once I had a copy of When They Severed Earth from Sky in my hot little hands. Page after page, I found answers to questions that had been percolating in my head for years, decent illustrations of woven goods, pottery, and tools, and an open celebration of women's arts through history.
In short, string-skirts are holy, spinning is truly revolutionary in every sense, sheep are our friends, women who make textiles rock, and this is a great book.
I first came across Barber because of her work on P.V. Glob's The Bog People, one of my favorites. I read this book slowly because I was loathe to finish it, but decided I could wrap things up once I had a copy of When They Severed Earth from Sky in my hot little hands. Page after page, I found answers to questions that had been percolating in my head for years, decent illustrations of woven goods, pottery, and tools, and an open celebration of women's arts through history.
In short, string-skirts are holy, spinning is truly revolutionary in every sense, sheep are our friends, women who make textiles rock, and this is a great book.
January 21, 2013
I first read this book many years ago, and was recently reminded of it. Very much an answer for all those people who look at standard histories and ask, "But what were the women doing all that time?"
It was also once favorably reviewed in Scientific American, I happily recall.
Highly recommended. For everyone, really, but very much for any writer thinking about their world-building.
Ta, L.
It was also once favorably reviewed in Scientific American, I happily recall.
Highly recommended. For everyone, really, but very much for any writer thinking about their world-building.
Ta, L.
December 8, 2013
This is basically the Guns, Germs, and Steel of textiles, fabrics, and the women who weave with them. My entry point in this book was Gregory Clark's excellent Big History book A Farewell to Alms, where he discussed how in large part the first phase of the Industrial Revolution was almost entirely driven by productivity improvements in the textile industry. Weaving being then as now a primarily female-dominated industry, I was interested to learn more about the sociological effects of that revolution, and though this book wasn't what I was expecting at all, covering "only" from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age, there's still lots that should be right up the alley of anyone looking for something in the intersection of archaeology, textiles, and the feminization of labor.
There are probably many different economic rationales for why some professions have been considered "women's work" for tens of thousands of years, but the most basic one is pretty straightforward: if some relatively simple task is compatible with having to take care of children, it will probably be women who are doing it. Barber quotes a researcher who lists the following characteristic of such jobs: "they do not require rapt concentration and are relatively dull and repetitive; they are easily interruptible [I see a rueful smile on every care giver's face!] and easily resumed once interrupted; they do not place the child in potential danger; and they do not require the participant to range very far from home." There's a lot to ponder in that description. It's interesting that even in the 21st century it seems like knitting is still almost exclusively a female hobby, even when the woman in question doesn't have kids. Barber doesn't go into why that is, but she does discuss the question of why, given that women dominated the ranks of knitters, most labor-saving technology like the spinning jenny was invented by men. Barber's explanation is that women were so busy trying to keep up with demand that didn't have the time to sit around and play with technology. That sounds plausible, although it seems like even in ancient times enough clothing was being made for luxury use that at least one woman would have the time to think "There's got to be a better way."
Regardless of how weaving came to be considered women's work, it's obvious that most of the women who did the work took pride in it and developed traditions around it. Barber discusses how the basic style of string skirt that survives today in Eastern European peasant garb has been almost unchanged for nearly 20,000 years, which is pretty mindblowing. Fascinatingly, it appears that certain more advanced weaving concepts like the heddle were so conceptually difficult that they were only actually invented once - thus allowing archaeologists to roughly date when various tribes split off from each other by whether they possessed the advanced concepts or not. In between defining important terms like carding, twill, or worsted, Barber follows weavers from the earliest records of the Paleolithic through the Neolithic and the agricultural revolution, to Bronze Age societies like the Minoans, Middle Kingdom Egyptians, and Myceneans, and finally to the Iron Age and classical Greek civilization. There's lots of good discussion behind things like the storytelling-through-fabric tradition that includes the famous Bayeux Tapestry, or why different types of looms were adopted in some places but not others, or how class structure did or did not affect weaving (a surprising number of powerful queens wove just like commoners, albeit with higher-quality fabrics), leavened with citations from all over the place, such as the Odyssey, Greek mythology, and peasant folklore like the stories in Grimm's.
I was disappointed that she ended two thousand years before the vast changes of the Industrial Revolution (even aside from the economic impact of the women in the textile industry then, surely the cultural impact of tricoteuses such as Madame Defarge in Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities would have been worth a mention), and even today, women in the garment trade are a vital part of the development of countries like Bangladesh. Probably the additional scope would have resulted in a book several times the size, but even with its limits, this is a very well-researched and interesting look at the history of weaving and its role in the world from a primarily female perspective. Barber is funny too; here's her relating a story from Xenophon about Socrates' friend Aristarchos buying a bunch of wool to keep his female houseguests busy:
"As a result, resources were found, and wool was bought. The women ate their noon meal while they worked, and quit working only at suppertime; and they were cheerful instead of gloomy. Presently Aristarchos returned to tell Socrates how splendidly everything was working out. But, he adds, the ladies are displeased at one thing - namely, that he himself is idle. The story ends with Socrates suggesting that Aristarchos tell them that he is like the apparently idle sheepdog, who gets better treatment than the sheep because his protection is what allows them all to prosper.
We do not hear how that fable went over with the women, but we know how it would be received today."
There are probably many different economic rationales for why some professions have been considered "women's work" for tens of thousands of years, but the most basic one is pretty straightforward: if some relatively simple task is compatible with having to take care of children, it will probably be women who are doing it. Barber quotes a researcher who lists the following characteristic of such jobs: "they do not require rapt concentration and are relatively dull and repetitive; they are easily interruptible [I see a rueful smile on every care giver's face!] and easily resumed once interrupted; they do not place the child in potential danger; and they do not require the participant to range very far from home." There's a lot to ponder in that description. It's interesting that even in the 21st century it seems like knitting is still almost exclusively a female hobby, even when the woman in question doesn't have kids. Barber doesn't go into why that is, but she does discuss the question of why, given that women dominated the ranks of knitters, most labor-saving technology like the spinning jenny was invented by men. Barber's explanation is that women were so busy trying to keep up with demand that didn't have the time to sit around and play with technology. That sounds plausible, although it seems like even in ancient times enough clothing was being made for luxury use that at least one woman would have the time to think "There's got to be a better way."
Regardless of how weaving came to be considered women's work, it's obvious that most of the women who did the work took pride in it and developed traditions around it. Barber discusses how the basic style of string skirt that survives today in Eastern European peasant garb has been almost unchanged for nearly 20,000 years, which is pretty mindblowing. Fascinatingly, it appears that certain more advanced weaving concepts like the heddle were so conceptually difficult that they were only actually invented once - thus allowing archaeologists to roughly date when various tribes split off from each other by whether they possessed the advanced concepts or not. In between defining important terms like carding, twill, or worsted, Barber follows weavers from the earliest records of the Paleolithic through the Neolithic and the agricultural revolution, to Bronze Age societies like the Minoans, Middle Kingdom Egyptians, and Myceneans, and finally to the Iron Age and classical Greek civilization. There's lots of good discussion behind things like the storytelling-through-fabric tradition that includes the famous Bayeux Tapestry, or why different types of looms were adopted in some places but not others, or how class structure did or did not affect weaving (a surprising number of powerful queens wove just like commoners, albeit with higher-quality fabrics), leavened with citations from all over the place, such as the Odyssey, Greek mythology, and peasant folklore like the stories in Grimm's.
I was disappointed that she ended two thousand years before the vast changes of the Industrial Revolution (even aside from the economic impact of the women in the textile industry then, surely the cultural impact of tricoteuses such as Madame Defarge in Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities would have been worth a mention), and even today, women in the garment trade are a vital part of the development of countries like Bangladesh. Probably the additional scope would have resulted in a book several times the size, but even with its limits, this is a very well-researched and interesting look at the history of weaving and its role in the world from a primarily female perspective. Barber is funny too; here's her relating a story from Xenophon about Socrates' friend Aristarchos buying a bunch of wool to keep his female houseguests busy:
"As a result, resources were found, and wool was bought. The women ate their noon meal while they worked, and quit working only at suppertime; and they were cheerful instead of gloomy. Presently Aristarchos returned to tell Socrates how splendidly everything was working out. But, he adds, the ladies are displeased at one thing - namely, that he himself is idle. The story ends with Socrates suggesting that Aristarchos tell them that he is like the apparently idle sheepdog, who gets better treatment than the sheep because his protection is what allows them all to prosper.
We do not hear how that fable went over with the women, but we know how it would be received today."
December 5, 2023
Woohoo! Last catch up review!
I enjoyed this book, and liked learning about the history of textiles and fabric. This book mostly focused on weaving, which is something that I haven't done since those little looms we got as toys in like 3rd grade. As a knitter, I'm also a fabric-maker, but knitting wasn't included or mentioned in this book. Likely that came much later in history.
This was well researched and presented, though it was far from perfect. It was quite repetitive, often making the same points and arguments again and again, though from different perspectives and with different historical context. Most of the time she would refer back to the chapter the point was originally mentioned, but not always.
And it did feel somewhat dated at times. If you would have asked me what dated it, I would have said the reader, who sounded VERY 1996 to me, but alas, this audiobook was actually produced in 2019. Go figure.
Of course then there was the line where the author said that she "is hesitant" to call the kidnapping, selling, and forced labor of women by people who now own them "slavery" because it was REALLY more like indentured servitude, and often they would end up with families and ties to their new land, so... it wasn't really all THAT bad. >_>
I mean, I learned way back in middle school that indentured servitude is a contractual arrangement with set terms, and then the person is released/freed. Whereas when someone is taken forcibly from their home, against their will, sold to another person who then "OWNS" them and their labor... that absolutely IS slavery, ELIZABETH.
Other than that garbage sentence (seriously, why?) this was interesting and entertaining, I enjoyed the histories of the different fiber-making, loom-making, weaving, and embellishments of the fabrics, as well as how they were used in societies and still are. It was cool to feel like I was part of a much larger history, honestly. Now it's not just the nerdy hobby I have, it's my heritage! :P
I enjoyed this book, and liked learning about the history of textiles and fabric. This book mostly focused on weaving, which is something that I haven't done since those little looms we got as toys in like 3rd grade. As a knitter, I'm also a fabric-maker, but knitting wasn't included or mentioned in this book. Likely that came much later in history.
This was well researched and presented, though it was far from perfect. It was quite repetitive, often making the same points and arguments again and again, though from different perspectives and with different historical context. Most of the time she would refer back to the chapter the point was originally mentioned, but not always.
And it did feel somewhat dated at times. If you would have asked me what dated it, I would have said the reader, who sounded VERY 1996 to me, but alas, this audiobook was actually produced in 2019. Go figure.
Of course then there was the line where the author said that she "is hesitant" to call the kidnapping, selling, and forced labor of women by people who now own them "slavery" because it was REALLY more like indentured servitude, and often they would end up with families and ties to their new land, so... it wasn't really all THAT bad. >_>
I mean, I learned way back in middle school that indentured servitude is a contractual arrangement with set terms, and then the person is released/freed. Whereas when someone is taken forcibly from their home, against their will, sold to another person who then "OWNS" them and their labor... that absolutely IS slavery, ELIZABETH.
Other than that garbage sentence (seriously, why?) this was interesting and entertaining, I enjoyed the histories of the different fiber-making, loom-making, weaving, and embellishments of the fabrics, as well as how they were used in societies and still are. It was cool to feel like I was part of a much larger history, honestly. Now it's not just the nerdy hobby I have, it's my heritage! :P
September 12, 2025
“Between 1200 and 600 B.C., the era when this cloth was apparently woven, the ancestors of the Celts were living in what is now Austria, Hungary, and southern Germany. Many of these people were miners, digging out of the mountains both metal ores and salt. (Salt was very precious for preserving food before the days of refrigerators. Those who could supply it grew rich.) By 400 B.C. the early Celts were beginning to fan out westward across Europe into France, Britain, and Spain, where they live today, carrying a culture directly descended from that of the Hallstatt miners. In a very real sense I was looking at the original tam and at the ancestor of the Scottish plaid tweed or twill, all produced by the immediate ancestors of the Celts.”
October 1, 2017
The book really has more of a focus on the Bronze Age than the Stone Age, with extensive sections on weaving in Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and the Aegean – so much so that I’ve moved it from my Stone Age section to my Bronze Age section. It is worth noting that, being published over 20 years ago, the book is out of date in some of its information. For example, the author repeats the hypothesis of goddess worship at Catalhoyuk, something which site director Ian Hodder and his international team have disproved, and she also ascribes to the ‘creative explosion’ notion whereby 40,000 years ago in Europe some sort of neurological or cultural change suddenly resulted in a flourishing of art – but that proposition has been on shaky ground for years now, with more discoveries turning up every year of art predating that arbitrary point. However, I admit I didn’t spot any other boo-boos in the text, and the book is still a valuable resource, particularly for informing one about the life and occupation of Bronze Age women. I’ve never before read a book that is wholesale devoted to examining the work of women in the Bronze Age near east; usually it just gets a few paragraphs or perhaps a chapter in a book about the Bronze Age in general, so this is a very valuable resource, and I can definitely see myself coming back to it for future reference.
8 out of 10
8 out of 10
March 9, 2016
This book is lauded in crafty-fiber circles, apparently for being the only one of its kind to focus on women's history rather than for giving any great insight about archaeology or, you know, the titular women's work.
I mean, okay, it's still interesting and informative and fairly well-written. But it's more "non-fiction" than "scholarly", and I took off a star for that; there isn't enough meat on these bones, not enough exploration or discussion. Some parts are deeply repetitive and some parts build off each other, so it doesn't pay to read straight through and it doesn't pay to pick and choose chapters (that's another star gone).
The author learned to weave as a child, and it shows. She probably knows how to spin, too -- there's some familiarity with spindles -- but I am a spinner myself and her explanations gave up more questions than answers. She says this low-whorl type of spindle is suited for wool, and this high-whorl one for flax -- well, why? (I've spun both fibers on a drop-spindle; I prefer low-whorl, but there is no real difference that can't be adapted for by using different techniques, like starting the spin between your hands rather than twisting with your fingers). She says the Egyptians "spliced" the flax before spinning -- how? Why add the extra step? (Europeans spun both flax and wool using a distaff.) I imagine it gives a stronger, finer thread -- but without trying, there's no way to know.
Barber spends the final chapter reminding us that we don't know the limits of our knowledge; there are questions we never think to ask. I know a little bit about spinning and it opened a hundred holes in her writing. What else am I too ignorant to question?
I mean, okay, it's still interesting and informative and fairly well-written. But it's more "non-fiction" than "scholarly", and I took off a star for that; there isn't enough meat on these bones, not enough exploration or discussion. Some parts are deeply repetitive and some parts build off each other, so it doesn't pay to read straight through and it doesn't pay to pick and choose chapters (that's another star gone).
The author learned to weave as a child, and it shows. She probably knows how to spin, too -- there's some familiarity with spindles -- but I am a spinner myself and her explanations gave up more questions than answers. She says this low-whorl type of spindle is suited for wool, and this high-whorl one for flax -- well, why? (I've spun both fibers on a drop-spindle; I prefer low-whorl, but there is no real difference that can't be adapted for by using different techniques, like starting the spin between your hands rather than twisting with your fingers). She says the Egyptians "spliced" the flax before spinning -- how? Why add the extra step? (Europeans spun both flax and wool using a distaff.) I imagine it gives a stronger, finer thread -- but without trying, there's no way to know.
Barber spends the final chapter reminding us that we don't know the limits of our knowledge; there are questions we never think to ask. I know a little bit about spinning and it opened a hundred holes in her writing. What else am I too ignorant to question?
May 27, 2013
I don't care who you are - 20,000 years is a long time!
What this book tells us is simple: Women clothed the human race because it was something they could do while raising the next generation.
There are cultures where this is still the case.
It was a tradeoff - and a good one.
But the sheer skill required to create first thread then weaving it into cloth is very hard to grasp. Unless, of course, you're learning to spin yarn, like I am.
I'm going to step out on a limb ->
Women have evolved with spinning and weaving serveing an integrial need in the brain. We've been bred for this for - well - 20k years. So when I hear a woman say she loves to spin because it is relaxing (soothing is my phrase) I get it.
We live in a stressed out society. One where we are separated from creation in it's most basic forms. We are crammed into molds that fit our work, not who we are as humans. (De-humanizing happens in all aspect of our lives.)
The pull of spinning is no longer a mystery to me. There is a part of me that WANTS to spin when I'm waiting for something. I'm not looking for something to occupy my mind, like Spider or Face Book. I'm not tempted to spend endless hours on the internet. I can spin wool into yarn anywhere and any time. It's like fidgeting or smoking, without the cancer.
What this book tells us is simple: Women clothed the human race because it was something they could do while raising the next generation.
There are cultures where this is still the case.
It was a tradeoff - and a good one.
But the sheer skill required to create first thread then weaving it into cloth is very hard to grasp. Unless, of course, you're learning to spin yarn, like I am.
I'm going to step out on a limb ->
Women have evolved with spinning and weaving serveing an integrial need in the brain. We've been bred for this for - well - 20k years. So when I hear a woman say she loves to spin because it is relaxing (soothing is my phrase) I get it.
We live in a stressed out society. One where we are separated from creation in it's most basic forms. We are crammed into molds that fit our work, not who we are as humans. (De-humanizing happens in all aspect of our lives.)
The pull of spinning is no longer a mystery to me. There is a part of me that WANTS to spin when I'm waiting for something. I'm not looking for something to occupy my mind, like Spider or Face Book. I'm not tempted to spend endless hours on the internet. I can spin wool into yarn anywhere and any time. It's like fidgeting or smoking, without the cancer.
July 16, 2007
One of the most interesting books I've ever read, although I'm sure it won't sound that way when I describe it. It's a discussion of weaving and its relation to women's historical roles. The two are interconnected in some complicated and fascinating ways. I borrowed a copy from my school library a few years ago because I'd heard it was a good read, and actually need to get one of my own now so I can reread it sometime soon.
November 17, 2023
Acidic bog water destroys plants but preserves animal skin and leather, hair and wool, horn and fingernails. Alkaline lake mud destroys animal remains, but preserves plant material such as wood and flaxen thread. —Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times, Elizabeth Wayland Barber, pp. 86, 90.
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July 30, 2024
Fascinating, brilliant, if a bit outdated and uninformed re: some aspects of Near Eastern archaeology & historiography. Channels the same spirit that prompted Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's oft-quoted but always-misunderstood lament that "Well-behaved women seldom make history."* And as someone who got very, very sick of hearing about and studying pottery shards, I really appreciate her desire to refocus archaeological priorities onto textiles.
*She meant it as a call for research into the lives & history of normal women's everyday lives, a celebration of those "well-behaved women," a plea to shift our priorities and refocus as historians. She did NOT mean it as a call to revolution or a claim that women MUST "misbehave" if they wish to make history.
*She meant it as a call for research into the lives & history of normal women's everyday lives, a celebration of those "well-behaved women," a plea to shift our priorities and refocus as historians. She did NOT mean it as a call to revolution or a claim that women MUST "misbehave" if they wish to make history.
July 3, 2025
Who knew there was a history to string? Or how much can be deduced from ancient cloth fragments which have survived? This is a fascinating book about recent theories and discoveries about weaving and cloth work in the ancient world based on archeological findings and cultural research. Great illustrations. With many references to Homeric women spinning and weaving, this was a good companion read for The Odyssey, but would appeal to anyone interested in the history of clothing or fabric arts.
September 7, 2024
Fascinating work that emphasizes the importance of personal experience in anthropological study. Wearing the ancient straw skirt and dancing, feeling ecstatic and considering that, potentially, the same way the women of the past would’ve felt. Weaving the same pattern of a scarf found, and realizing just how it was made. The Bronze Age beginning as the metal within the glazes of a woman’s pottery drip and cast at the bottom of her kiln. The ability to create interwoven with the ability to appreciate the creations of the past. This perspective on making art to understand ancient artifacts, folk art, storytelling, etc. is almost a form of time-traveling that allows for the anthropologists and artists of today to find community with those who walked the earth centuries ago. Academically, this is a great text, but it is written in a way that also makes it philosophical, heart-warming, and entertaining.
May 27, 2020
Rather a shallow and necessarily fragmentary overview of spinning and weaving in mostly the Bronze Age in Central Europe (Hallstatt), the Aegean (Minoans and Greeks), and Egypt (Middle Kingdom), but a book needs a title. That the central subject holds no real surprises now is, I suspect, largely thanks to Barber's significant influence on the consensus understanding thereof, presumably more through her 1992 book Prehistoric Textiles than through this more popsci one, but it's a good read nonetheless.
Barber is a professor of archaeology and linguistics, but some of her views on both are oddly naïve; some of that may be due to her target audience, and some of it could be down to the age of the book (though the early '90s weren't that long ago), but some of it is certainly a deliberate political stance. Barber's conception of the Indo-Europeans as violent invaders overrunning previously peaceful Neolithic Europe, down to Gimbutas—on whose lunatic Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe she also bases an illustration of a Gravettian Venus figurine—is likely the latter, and her identifications of the string skirt on that same Gravettian Venus figurine with both Aphrodite's banded girdle (translated, shamelessly misleadingly, as "string skirt" by Barber) in Homer and certain modern Romanian folk costumes (on which every decorative lozenge is also clearly meant to represent a vagina), and of that one Minoan snake goddess figurine with a 19th-century embroidery pattern of Berehinia holding two peacocks, are obviously meant to provoke at least as much as to draw any legitimate parallel, but other asides are harder to place. Certainly her advanced case of "and still in Europe today" is an American disease, and many of her less mainstream claims are, at least, second-tier legitimate rather than fully fringe (Poseidon as a borrowed Pre-Greek god (possible), Homer's Phaeacians (or Phaiakians, if, like Barber, you prefer) as half-remembered or holdover Minoans (not unlikely), the Titanomachy as a memory of the Thera eruption (full of holes but fashionable in some circles), &c.).
There's also no shortage of surprising asides that turn out to be uncontroversially true, anyway, and even if the main thrust of Barber's explanations is familiar by now, there's enough here to keep your attention in a pleasant way. I can't help but suspect some of her other books will be better, though, and I intend to find out.
Barber is a professor of archaeology and linguistics, but some of her views on both are oddly naïve; some of that may be due to her target audience, and some of it could be down to the age of the book (though the early '90s weren't that long ago), but some of it is certainly a deliberate political stance. Barber's conception of the Indo-Europeans as violent invaders overrunning previously peaceful Neolithic Europe, down to Gimbutas—on whose lunatic Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe she also bases an illustration of a Gravettian Venus figurine—is likely the latter, and her identifications of the string skirt on that same Gravettian Venus figurine with both Aphrodite's banded girdle (translated, shamelessly misleadingly, as "string skirt" by Barber) in Homer and certain modern Romanian folk costumes (on which every decorative lozenge is also clearly meant to represent a vagina), and of that one Minoan snake goddess figurine with a 19th-century embroidery pattern of Berehinia holding two peacocks, are obviously meant to provoke at least as much as to draw any legitimate parallel, but other asides are harder to place. Certainly her advanced case of "and still in Europe today" is an American disease, and many of her less mainstream claims are, at least, second-tier legitimate rather than fully fringe (Poseidon as a borrowed Pre-Greek god (possible), Homer's Phaeacians (or Phaiakians, if, like Barber, you prefer) as half-remembered or holdover Minoans (not unlikely), the Titanomachy as a memory of the Thera eruption (full of holes but fashionable in some circles), &c.).
There's also no shortage of surprising asides that turn out to be uncontroversially true, anyway, and even if the main thrust of Barber's explanations is familiar by now, there's enough here to keep your attention in a pleasant way. I can't help but suspect some of her other books will be better, though, and I intend to find out.
September 18, 2023
I'm DNFing this one, which is a surprise. I really enjoy history, especially women's history, and I have a very active interest in textiles and fibre, but this book is very boring. I have been working on it for over a year and a half, and it's such a struggle to get through. I don't understand why, if I'm honest. It's all things I'm interested in, I just find the presentation very dry. Also, the photos of historical textiles and museum pieces are SUCH poor quality. They're mostly just a grainy grey blob on the page.
So I'm giving up on this one.
Edit: also, I'm a little bit suspect of the author's knowledge of spinning? At one point she talks about this bowl found in Crete that has a hook in the bottom. She says it's for plying linen, and you put the ball of singles in the bowl with some water and pass the end through the hook so the strand is forced down into the water before it comes up to where you are plying it. The author says this is because linen is full of splinters and is nicer to work with when wet. I'm not going to argue whether that is or isn't true, because I don't know how they were cleaning or preparing the fibers at the time, but that's not why linen has to be wet! It has to be wet (or at least damp) when spinning and plying to activate the pectin in the fiber or it won't stay spun or plied. It's not a matter of comfort, it's a matter of necessity.
She also makes some comment about top and bottom whirl spindles and how one is better for wool and one is better for linen, and I'm very sus about that. She didn't elaborate on why that might be the case, and I cannot think of a reason that would be, and it's not something I've ever heard of before.
So I'm giving up on this one.
Edit: also, I'm a little bit suspect of the author's knowledge of spinning? At one point she talks about this bowl found in Crete that has a hook in the bottom. She says it's for plying linen, and you put the ball of singles in the bowl with some water and pass the end through the hook so the strand is forced down into the water before it comes up to where you are plying it. The author says this is because linen is full of splinters and is nicer to work with when wet. I'm not going to argue whether that is or isn't true, because I don't know how they were cleaning or preparing the fibers at the time, but that's not why linen has to be wet! It has to be wet (or at least damp) when spinning and plying to activate the pectin in the fiber or it won't stay spun or plied. It's not a matter of comfort, it's a matter of necessity.
She also makes some comment about top and bottom whirl spindles and how one is better for wool and one is better for linen, and I'm very sus about that. She didn't elaborate on why that might be the case, and I cannot think of a reason that would be, and it's not something I've ever heard of before.
March 23, 2022
3* - pretty enjoyable for what it is.
Which, in my opinion, is like a series of randomly-slung together Wikipedia-level insights into ancient and pre-ancient textile history. Obviously we are incredibly blessed with the absolute breadth and depth of information we can access today, so if I read this in the 90s, I imagine I would've been far more impressed, but alas, I read it in 2022. The post script explaining the wide range of disciplines drawn on to create this book helped bump it up a star for me.
Still, I found the organisation of the text... Disorganised. Times and places were jumped around. Some things were mentioned in passing like I should know what the hell that is or when the 16th Dynasty of ancient Egypt was in relation to everything else. Sometimes I felt we were on a tangent of interest, but not relevance. And there is a very clear focus on textile history, as opposed to the whole of women's work. And a very clear focus on Europe, and not much further afield than that. Also, I guess I was hoping that this didn't cut off in ancient times, but it did, so the rest of the history of women's work, or even up until the industrial revolution, I shall have to learn elsewhere.
Which, in my opinion, is like a series of randomly-slung together Wikipedia-level insights into ancient and pre-ancient textile history. Obviously we are incredibly blessed with the absolute breadth and depth of information we can access today, so if I read this in the 90s, I imagine I would've been far more impressed, but alas, I read it in 2022. The post script explaining the wide range of disciplines drawn on to create this book helped bump it up a star for me.
Still, I found the organisation of the text... Disorganised. Times and places were jumped around. Some things were mentioned in passing like I should know what the hell that is or when the 16th Dynasty of ancient Egypt was in relation to everything else. Sometimes I felt we were on a tangent of interest, but not relevance. And there is a very clear focus on textile history, as opposed to the whole of women's work. And a very clear focus on Europe, and not much further afield than that. Also, I guess I was hoping that this didn't cut off in ancient times, but it did, so the rest of the history of women's work, or even up until the industrial revolution, I shall have to learn elsewhere.
June 4, 2018
Whether your interest lies in the history of textiles, or in the history of woman's role in society, Elizabeth Barber has it covered--from 20,000 BCE to the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.
The book developed out of her previous publication (Pincetown University 1991) 'Prehistoric Textiles', which itself was the result of 17 years of research.
Ms Barber draws on every possible source: archaeological finds; modern forensic research; ancient texts and drawings; ancient sculptures; as well as more recent folk costumes, and not just from Europe but from across the globe. She considers the materials available, the demands upon a woman's time, her changing place in society as agriculture developed and city-states grew. She examines the potential output of the two main types of loom, and their geographical distribution.
I found there wasn't an aspect of early textile production that she didn't cover, and all in easily accessible language. I strongly recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more of a woman's life in days gone by.
The book developed out of her previous publication (Pincetown University 1991) 'Prehistoric Textiles', which itself was the result of 17 years of research.
Ms Barber draws on every possible source: archaeological finds; modern forensic research; ancient texts and drawings; ancient sculptures; as well as more recent folk costumes, and not just from Europe but from across the globe. She considers the materials available, the demands upon a woman's time, her changing place in society as agriculture developed and city-states grew. She examines the potential output of the two main types of loom, and their geographical distribution.
I found there wasn't an aspect of early textile production that she didn't cover, and all in easily accessible language. I strongly recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more of a woman's life in days gone by.
July 10, 2015
Excellent book on the origins and development of spinning and weaving in Middle East and Europe. Ms. Barber, an archeologist and weaver, has an engaging style. She not only tells us what we know about the early history of weaving, she shows us how we know. She is also very apolitical in her approach; she neither praises nor condemns the treatment of women throughout this early period of history (Neolithic to the Iron Age). She restricts herself to the data. Highly recommended for those interested in social history, textiles, and women's history.
September 17, 2024
Informative book about earlier human history through the lens of cloth, clothes and women (and to a lesser degree, men) who produced them. It could have been better organized. The author weaves together archaeology and mythology to present a missing piece of history. I never thought of the two very different ways of weaving, spindle and loom, and why, or Egyptian women could own a business independent of men. My favorite part is probably the mythology, such as these: what exactly did Penelope weave in Odyssey? What can the golden spindle in the sleeping beauty tell us about European history?
August 19, 2009
Wonderful book, full of insights. Women's role changes through history, but the constant is that women have the primary responsibility of early childhood rearing. Women's work always has to be something that could be combined with a safe atmosphere for the children. When farming was done with little more than sticks, farming was women's work. When farming was done with horses and a metal plow, farming was too dangerous for the children, so it became men's work. So pragmatic. Rational.
January 20, 2019
I love this book--very informative and interesting simply for the way the author approaches research. Anyone who wears clothes or uses sheets or towels or any other sort of textiles should read this.
May 12, 2025
Super interesting investigation into textile production in pre-history. I especially loved the chapter on myths and fairytales and was bamboozled by the notion that the Greeks actually borrowed Athena from the Aegeans (along with a bunch of their weaving terms).
November 25, 2007
A fascinating look at human history told through weaving.
December 6, 2015
Read for my thesis. Really great collection of material but I wish she'd organized the book a little better once it got past ancient Crete
June 23, 2021
4,5*
June 12, 2024
I FINALLY FINISHED!!!! It took me months but I managed to work it into nearly every conversation because it is sooo interesting and genuinely does apply to so much in daily life. It is also a potent sedative that I could really only read like 20 pages at a time! Highly recommend to anyone interested women’s history, textile history, ancient history or people who struggle with insomnia!
November 23, 2013
Women's wok by Elizabeth Barber is truly one astonishing read. In this book, Barber explaines the role of women in the prehistoric era by letting their main craft speak for them: weaving cloth. Quite a lot of societies are included, such as the prehistoric syrians, greeks and egyptians. Based on archeological, ethnological, linguistic and mythological evidence, Barber weaves an story about women and cloth.
What I love about this book is because this book is easy to read and doesn't require much knowledge beforehand. Theories and hypothesis are well explained, and the topics the author covers, long bogged my mind. Why were there stringskirts? Why was the main occupation of women weaving and cooking? Next to it, it gives an outstanding view of the prehistorical societies by focussing at daily life and not on wars (although there are some mentioned).
Honestly, this is one of the most refreshing non-fiction books I've read in years - and I consider this book a must read for anyone who claims to be an history or textile fan.
What I love about this book is because this book is easy to read and doesn't require much knowledge beforehand. Theories and hypothesis are well explained, and the topics the author covers, long bogged my mind. Why were there stringskirts? Why was the main occupation of women weaving and cooking? Next to it, it gives an outstanding view of the prehistorical societies by focussing at daily life and not on wars (although there are some mentioned).
Honestly, this is one of the most refreshing non-fiction books I've read in years - and I consider this book a must read for anyone who claims to be an history or textile fan.
March 15, 2020
4.5 stars. This would be 5 stars if it 1)hadn't been written 25 years ago and 2)the illustrations weren't primarily drawings done by the author.
Otherwise, there's a reason why this book has been checked out 9 times and used on course reserves. This is a solid, accessible work examining the economic and cultural lives of women through the lens of textile production. It's a book about the subtle clues in artifacts, like loom weights in an area that does not usually have vertical looms weaving suggests an influx of women from another area, either through migration or through abduction and enslavement.
There are sections that aren't especially clear to this non-weaver, such as when Barber describes the patterns along textiles' edges and how they were created. In general a half dozen youtube videos would go a long way towards explaining the how-to as well as the history of fabric production.
Otherwise, there's a reason why this book has been checked out 9 times and used on course reserves. This is a solid, accessible work examining the economic and cultural lives of women through the lens of textile production. It's a book about the subtle clues in artifacts, like loom weights in an area that does not usually have vertical looms weaving suggests an influx of women from another area, either through migration or through abduction and enslavement.
There are sections that aren't especially clear to this non-weaver, such as when Barber describes the patterns along textiles' edges and how they were created. In general a half dozen youtube videos would go a long way towards explaining the how-to as well as the history of fabric production.
February 7, 2020
This book was fantastic. It was not only easily readable and super informative, it was actually funny--which isn't all that common in history or archaeology books in my experience. Because it was so fascinating, I tore through it much faster than I usually read. As somebody who weaves and spins wool with a drop spindle, I really loved learning the history (all the way back to paleolithic times) of how people make cloth. It had a great mix of literal "here's how this physically worked" and more conceptual "here's why it developed like this." I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves textile history, clothing, fiber crafting, women's history, or archaeology in general.
June 23, 2017
Venus de Milo has lost her arms, but if you know what to look for, you can tell that she was spinning. This wonderful book is a master course in getting the maximum amount of information from the tiniest bits of surviving evidence -- archaeological, linguistic, textual, artistic, etc. Even present day activities can help us interpret ancient ones. I responded to this book as a quilter, who works with textiles; as a woman, who is habitually left out of history books; and as a person, who is dazzled by the myriad detective skills needed to delve into our ancient past.
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