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19 Local Warehouse Gender Studies- Womens Studies

Women's Work: The First Twenty-Thousand Years

by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Women's Work: The First Twenty-Thousand Years Cover

ISBN13: 9780393313482
ISBN10: 0393313484
All Product Details

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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.

Synopsis:

New discoveries about the textile arts reveal women's unexpectedly influential role in ancient societies. Barber "weaves the strands of mythology and literature, archaeology, ethnology, and documented history into a rich tapestry" says John Noble Wilford, New York Times Book Review. Photos and drawings. Author lectures.

Synopsis:

Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

Synopsis:

"A fascinating history of . . . [a craft] that preceded and made possible civilization itself." --New York Times Book Review

Synopsis:

2500 years ago, the women of Athens slaved at home, virtual prisoners of their husbands, expected to provide the cloth and clothing for their family. 4000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, there was a very different picture: respectable women were in business, weaving textiles at home to be sold abroad for gold and silver. Going back even further, 20,000 years ago women began making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibres. Indeed, for over 20,000 years, until the Industrial Revolution, the arts of weaving belonged primarily to women and were the principal vehicle for demonstrating their various roles as mother, provider, worker, entrepreneur and artist.

About the Author

Elizabeth Wayland Barber teaches linguistics and archaeology at Occidental College in California.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:

clairePA, January 10, 2012 (view all comments by clairePA)
Oops! I meant to give it 5 stars - my bad.
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clairePA, January 10, 2012 (view all comments by clairePA)
This book will "broad-en" (excuse the pun!)everyone's ideas about women's history. Textile artists, fashion designers, costume historians and the general public alike will enjoy this look at how women, throughout the ages, contributed to human existence through their manufacture of fabric and clothing. I particularly like the second chapter, "The String Revolution," which depicts the invention of string around 20,000 B.C. I used it as a reference in an article I wrote about bellydance costume. String skirts of of the Palaeolithic and later times advertised that the ladies sporting them were in some sense available as brides. Modern bellydance costume certainly reflects this ancient allure with its belts made of long string,fringes and beading.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780393313482
Author:
Barber, Elizabeth Wayland
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Location:
New York
Subject:
Women
Subject:
Women's Studies
Subject:
History
Subject:
Government and political science
Subject:
Women's Studies - History
Subject:
Minority group studies
Subject:
To 500
Subject:
Textile fabrics, Ancient.
Subject:
Women, Prehistoric.
Subject:
Textile fabrics, Prehistoric.
Subject:
Women's Studies - General
Subject:
Gender Studies-General
Subject:
Gender Studies-Womens Studies
Series Volume:
no. 8
Publication Date:
19950931
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
336
Dimensions:
8.26x5.54x.84 in. .65 lbs.

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Women's Work: The First Twenty-Thousand Years New Trade Paper
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Product details 336 pages W. W. Norton & Company - English 9780393313482 Reviews:
"Synopsis" by , New discoveries about the textile arts reveal women's unexpectedly influential role in ancient societies. Barber "weaves the strands of mythology and literature, archaeology, ethnology, and documented history into a rich tapestry" says John Noble Wilford, New York Times Book Review. Photos and drawings. Author lectures.
"Synopsis" by , Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times
"Synopsis" by , "A fascinating history of . . . [a craft] that preceded and made possible civilization itself." --New York Times Book Review
"Synopsis" by , 2500 years ago, the women of Athens slaved at home, virtual prisoners of their husbands, expected to provide the cloth and clothing for their family. 4000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, there was a very different picture: respectable women were in business, weaving textiles at home to be sold abroad for gold and silver. Going back even further, 20,000 years ago women began making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibres. Indeed, for over 20,000 years, until the Industrial Revolution, the arts of weaving belonged primarily to women and were the principal vehicle for demonstrating their various roles as mother, provider, worker, entrepreneur and artist.
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