M A R I J A G I M B U T A S The Living Goddesses EDI TE D AND S U P P L E M E N T E D BY Miriam Robbins Dexter U N I V E R S I T Y OF C A L I F O R N I A PRESS Berkeley | Los Angeles I London UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley and Los Angeles, California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, LTD. London, England © 1999 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gimbutas, Marija Alseikaite The living goddesses / Marija Gimbutas ; edited and supplemented by Miriam Robbins Dexter, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-520-21393-9 (alk. paper) 1. Religion, Prehistoric—Europe. 2. Goddesses—Europe. 3. Neolithic period—Europe. 4. Religion—Europe—History. 5. Folklore—Europe. 6. Europe—Antiquities. I. Dexter, Miriam Robbins, 1943- . II. Title. GN803.G57 1999 291.1'4—dc21 98-46634 CIP Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standards for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. C O N T E N T S List of Illustrations vii Editor’s Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Editor’s Introduction xv Religion in Prepatriarchal Europe 1 Images oj Goddesses and Gods 3 Symbols, Signs, and Sacred Script 43 The Tomb and the Womb 55 Temples 72 Sacred Stone and Wood Ceremonial Centers 99 Matrilineal Social Structure as Mirrored in Religion and Myth 112 The Living Goddesses 127 The Minoan Religion in Crete 131 The Greek Religion 151 The Etruscan Religion 165 The Basque Religion 172 The Celtic Religion 176 The Germanic Religion 188 The Baltic Religion 197 Editor’s Afterword 215 Editor’s Notes 217 Glossary 231 Selected Bibliography 235 Index 261 I L L U S T R A T I O N S FIGURES 1. Figurine, Sesklo culture 6 2. Figurine, Starcevo culture 7 3. Figurine, Vinca culture 8 4. Masked figurine heads, Sesklo culture 9 5. Vase neck with mask, Starcevo culture 10 6. Figurine holding mask, Vinca culture 10 7. Bear-shaped lamp, Danilo culture 13 8. Squatting figurine, Vinca culture 15 9. Enthroned nudes, Tisza culture 17 10. “The Gumelnitu Lovers,” Karanovo culture 18 11. Death goddess, Neolithic Portugal 20 12. Owl goddess, LBK culture 20 13. “Stiff nudes” showing aspects of goddess of death and regeneration 22 14. Masks portraying goddess of death and regeneration, Karanovo VI culture 23 15. “Gorgon” head, Sesklo culture 24 16. Archaic Greek Gorgons 25 17. Neolithic relief of goddess of regeneration as frog, Cucuteni (Tripolye) culture 27 18. Neolithic frog goddess, Hacilar, western Turkey 27 19. Goddess faces on vases, Tisza culture 28 20. “Sheela na gig,” England 29 21. Frog or toad goddess portrayals, Bronze Age and later 30 22. Fish goddess, Lepenski Vir 31 23. Hedgehog goddess, Karanovo-Gumelnita culture, and Late Minoan figure 32 24. Dog with human mask, Karanovo VI culture 33 25. Jumping dogs on vase, Cucuteni (Tripolye) culture 33 26. Minoan seals 34 27. Female figures revealing a bucranium in the position of the uterus and fallopian tubes, Catal Huyuk 34 vti 28. Owl goddess with bucranium-shaped pendant, southern France 35 29. Bucrania above tomb entrance, Ozieri culture 36 30. New life emerging from horns on tomb wall, Ozieri culture 36 31. Goddess of regeneration, Starcevo culture 37 32. Triangular altar, Tisza culture 38 33. Goddess with body composed of multiple triangles, on vase, Cucuteni (Tripolye) culture 39 34. Goddess formed from converging triangles on vase, Cucuteni (Tripolye) culture 40 35. Vultures on dish, Ozieri culture 41 36. Abstract Acheulian signs, France 43 37. Life-giving signs, France and Ukraine 44 38. Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic bird goddess figurines, Ukraine and western Romania 45 39. Chevrons and Vs on vessels associated with bird goddess, Achilleion, Obre I, and Troy I cultures 45 40. Eggs within bull on cave floor and dish, southern France and Malta 46 41. Symbolic vase paintings, southeastern Europe 47 42. Labyrinth on early Neolithic handled seals, Sesklo and Starcevo cultures 47 43. Symbols within squares or bands on Old European ceramics, southeastern Europe 48 44. Organized script etched on shallow vessel, Vinca culture 48 45. Inscribed spindle whorls, Vinca culture 49 46. Mother and child inscribed with script, Vinca culture 49 47. Shrine floor plans from Iron Gates region 57 48. Sculptures at head of altar in Lepenski Vir shrines 58 49. Ritual dance scene on dish, Ozieri culture 64 50. Main megalithic grave types found in western Europe 65 51. Earthen barrow with burial chamber, TBK culture 65 52. Rising goddess on passage-grave walls, Brittany 69 53. Engraved orthostats, Brittany 70 54. Clay model of four temples, Gumelnita (Karanovo VI) culture 74 55. Two-story building, Tisza culture 75 56. Vase shaped as enthroned temple goddess, Tisza culture 76 57. Rectangular vessel-shaped deity, Thracian Neolithic 78 58. Temple reconstruction, Tisza culture 80 59. Offering vessels, sixth and fifth millennia b.c., southeastern Europe 82 viii / Illustrations 60. Offering containers, early Vinca culture 82 61. Bowl attached to two figures with breasts, Cucuteni (Tripolye) culture 83 62. Clay temple models with symbolic designs, Sesklo, Karanovo, and Cucuteni (Tripolye) cultures 84 63. Clay temple model with frog on roof, central Balkan Neolithic 85 64. Unroofed clay temple model with figures, late Cucuteni (Tripolye) culture 85 65. Two-room open shrine model with figurines, Dimini culture 86 66. Two-story clay temple, Cucuteni (Tripolye) culture 88 67. Nude figurine with disc-decorated hip belt, Vinca culture 89 68. Nude figurines with fringed hip belts, Vinca and late Cucuteni (Tripolye) cultures 90 69. Nude figurine with tight skirt, Vinca culture 91 70. Figurine with garment of vertical and horizontal panels, Vinca culture 91 71. Figurine with narrow skirt and dotted apron, Vinca culture 92 72. Figurines with conical or cylindrical hats, Vinca and Sesklo cultures 92 73. Double temple, Maltese Neolithic 93 74. Double temple of Mnajdra, Malta 94 75. Largest limestone sculpture of Malta, Hal Tarxien temple 94 76. Stone statuette of double goddess, Gozo, Malta 96 77. Avebury roundel, County Wiltshire, England 104 78. Clay drums, central Germany 109 MAP 1. Sites along Danube 56 ix / Illustrations E D I T O R ’ S P R E F A CE Shortly after the death of Marija Gimbutas, her daughter Živile Gimbu­ tas called and asked me to finish this book, a difficult task since I would not be able to call Dr. Gimbutas to ask her questions about con­ tent, formatting, intent. She had reworked the first chapters quite a bit more than the long and very rich final chapter, which at that time formed the whole of part II. I began with my own edit of the text and then gave a more careful look at both details and the final shape the book would take. In order to make the book as up-to-date as possible, I added com­ ments in notes (presented as “editor’s notes”). (The author’s own sources are given within the text.) Dr. Gimbutas had planned many illustrations for the second half of the book, but these were not among the illustrations she left at the time of her death. Thus part I, on the prehistoric era, is richly illustrated, while part II has been left unillustrated. Illustrations of the historic-age myths and folklore may be found in editions of Bullfinch’s Mythology and in ency­ clopedias of world mythology such as that of Larousse. Marija Gimbutas always had “one more book” in her mind. This book was her final work in a prodigious writing career. She continued to edit it until she was hospitalized, ten days before her death. The manuscript manifested her love, perseverance, and hope, for she continued to work and rework it in spite of great physical pain, using her strength to shape it enough so that it could be finished by an editor. This book was first envisioned as a popularized version of her earlier work. But, in characteristic fashion, in her last year Dr. Gimbutas decided that she must disseminate new work, and therefore she filled this new academic work with her findings from 1991 to 1993. This work therefore stands as a testimony to the research of the final years, months, and weeks of her life. xi A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S ompleting and editing the work of another is a daunting task, par- ticularly when the composition has been written by one as broadly knowledgeable as Marija Gimbutas. Realizing that I could not complete this work alone, I asked several women, themselves authorities in vari­ ous fields, to read the manuscript after my initial work and to offer their suggestions. I am incredibly grateful for the indispensable help of the thealogian-theologian Carol E Christ; Susan Gitlin-Emmer, teacher of women’s spirituality; the Indo-European archaeologist Karlene Jones- Bley; and the lecturer-author-biographer Joan Marier, whose prior expe­ rience in editing Marija’s book The Civilization of the Goddess was invaluable. I also thank the Indo-European linguist Martin Huld for his willingness to confer with me on etymologies. The historian of religion Kees Bolle gave invaluable advice, as did the professor of Germanic mythology and linguistics Edgar C. Polomé. William Oldendorf worked with Professor Gimbutas on the first draft of this book; although the work has subsequently gone through many changes, he deserves great thanks for his efforts. Debra Eve, who edited the first versions of this manuscript together with Professor Gimbutas, was exceptionally devoted to the completion of the book. She undertook the organization of the illustrations and offered invaluable suggestions with regard to the rest of the manuscript; I offer her my heartfelt appreciation. Most of the illustrations were produced by James Bennett. It is likely that others early on produced illustrations as well; unfortunately, their names do not appear in Professor Gimbutas’ records. Further, it is quite possible that the source lists left at the time of Professor Gimbutas’ death do not reflect correct sources in every case. To all of the illustrators, and sources for illustrations, I therefore extend my gratitude and my apologies. Carolyn Radio, director of the Joseph Campbell and Marija Gimbutas Library at Pacifica University, kindly made Professor Gimbutas’ archives— books and notes—available to me; she also far exceeded the bounds of duty to search through the materials in order to unearth missing illustra­ tions. I thank also the Special Collections librarian Richard Buchen. xm I must also thank Živile Gimbutas, who with kindness and friend­ ship encouraged this completion of her mother’s work, supplying her own time and energy as well. Marija’s daughter Rasa Julie Thies was also very supportive. Irene Luksis Goddard and Valentinas Varnas carefully checked citations on Lithuanian and Latvian goddesses. Paula Coe and Angélique Guler- movich-Epstein supplied suggestions and information for the Celtic chap­ ter. Many thanks to my research assistant, Jules Hart, for bibliographic help and loving support. I thank Susan Gray, Sandra Golvin, and Geraldine Hannon for love and inspiration; and I give special thanks to my husband, Greg Dexter, and to my son and daughter, Jacob and Leah Robbins, for their support and encouragement to complete this project. Finally, I am very grateful to the editors of the University of California Press, Stan Holwitz, Harry Asforis, Sue Heinemann, and Bonita Hurd, who through their encouragement and expertise were most helpful in causing this work to come to fruition. Because Marija Gimbutas did not live to write her own acknowledg­ ments to this book, I would like to thank, in her place, several of the people who gave encouragement and strength to her in her final months. Her daughters, Danute, Živile, and Rasa, gave her wonderful physical and emo­ tional support. Many women in the Los Angeles community regularly visited her, including Debra Eve, Camille Ameen, Starr Goode, Susan Gitlin- Emmer, Jean Freer, Martha Wolford, Noel Lightbome, Barbara Bradshaw, Gloria Orenstein, and Ruth Barrett. Joan Marier and Vicki Noble visited frequently from the San Francisco Bay Area, as did Patricia Reis and James Harrod from Maine. These people inspired Marija to “produce, produce!”— even in her last weeks—through their inspiration and their love. xiv / Acknowledgments E D I T O R ’ S I N T R O D U C T I O N his book, which occupied Marija Gimbutas for the last two years of her life, was her last work (in English) in a writing career that included approximately three hundred scholarly articles and twenty books, translated into many foreign languages. It is different from Marija Gimbutas’ other works: it is exceptionally rich in folklore and myth. The focus of the book is twofold: a synthesis of her earlier work and the addi­ tion of new research. In the first several chapters, she synthesizes much of her research on Neolithic Europe, adding information that became avail­ able after her monograph, The Civilization of the Goddess: The World of Old Europe, was published. (Although Gimbutas uses information dating to the Upper Paleolithic, circa 30,000-10,000 b.c., and the Mesolithic, circa 10,000-7000 b.c., she focuses her own work primarily on the Neolithic, circa 7000/6000-3000 b.c., and the Bronze Age, circa 2500-1500 b.c. She also discusses the historic cultures of the Iron Age, circa 1500 b.c. through the middle of the first millennium b.c.) Much of Marija Gimbutas’ work was grounded in her findings at the archaeological sites she excavated, including Obre in Bosnia, Anza in Mace­ donia, Sitagroi in northwestern Greece, Achilleion in southern Thessaly (Greece), and Manfredonia in southern Italy. These excavations led directly to three edited volumes: Neolithic Macedonia (Gimbutas 1976), on her exca­ vations at Anza; Excavations at Sitagroi I (Renfrew, Gimbutas, and Elster 1986); and Achilleion: A Neolithic Settlement in Thessaly, Greece, 6400-6500 BC (Gimbutas et al. 1989). Early in her career, Marija Gimbutas identified the “Kurgan” culture. These Proto-Indo-Europeans were a patrilineal, patrilocal, pastoral, and seminomadic group of peoples who, she believed, originated in the steppes of Russia. They were militaristic, produced weapons, and rode horses. Their religion centered upon male gods. Their agriculture was rudi­ mentary, although as they came into greater contact with Old Europeans, they domesticated more plants and developed metallurgy. The ceramic art of these peoples was poorly developed. They buried their dead in pit graves covered with a cairn (Kurgan I and II) or an earthen mound, or kurgan (Kurgan III and IV). Gimbutas traced their migrations from an area north of the Caucasus, xv