Archeological Evidence

In her book, “War­rior Women,” Jean­nine Davis-Kim­ball, Ph.D. out­lines the arche­o­log­i­cal evi­dence of a vast cross-cul­tur­al exchange that stretched from Cen­tral Asia to Ire­land (from around 6000 B.C. to the ear­ly cen­turies A.D.). 

She dis­cov­ered that there were pow­er­ful woman war­riors and war­rior priest­esses through­out these cul­tures.  They were the keep­ers of the wis­dom asso­ci­at­ed with the Moth­er Goddess.

At one site she describes how

rit­u­al swords and dag­gers were mag­nif­i­cent­ly embla­zoned with a gold pro­fu­sion of parad­ing winged hors­es and snow leopards,Trees of Life …

Giv­en their incred­i­ble wealth of gold and icons embla­zoned with super­nat­ur­al pow­er, it takes lit­tle imag­i­na­tion to real­ize that these war­rior priest­esses had attained authority.

Dr. Davis-Kim­ball also pro­vides evi­dence that under­scores the great shift that occurred with the rise of patri­ar­chal influ­ence. She found indi­ca­tions of women being purged from posi­tions of pow­er and influ­ence. Any­thing to do with the Great God­dess was sub­sumed by the new patri­ar­chal reality.

Source:
“War­rior Women,” Jean­nine Davis-Kim­ball, Ph.D., Warn­er Books, Inc., NY, NY, 2002, pg. 237.