Description

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The 30th-anniversary edition of a historical account, called “brilliantly original” by Katha Pollitt (Washington Post Book World), that reframed our understanding of women’s lives in early societies.

Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing clothing created from spun fibers. In Women’s Work, archaeologist-linguist Elizabeth Wayland Barber “weaves the strands of mythology and literature, ethnology and documented history into a rich tapestry” (John Noble Wilford, New York Times Book Review), illuminating the vital role women held in preindustrial societies. With a distinctive and innovative approach to ancient remains, Barber examines ancient textiles from Stone Age string skirts and ancient Egyptian sleeved tunics to intricate Neolithic Swiss linens and colorfully patterned Minoan dresses, offering us captivating glimpses into the daily lives of women through the cloth they made and wore.

“A fascinating history and prehistory of the making of textiles, a craft, exclusive to women (including queens and goddesses), that preceded and made possible civilization itself.”—New York Times Book Review

“Fortunately, this most distinctive of female occupations has a sympathetic and authoritative chronicler in Elizabeth Wayland Barber.”—Mary R. Lefkowitz, New York Review of Books

About the Author

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Elizabeth Wayland Barber has authored Prehistoric Textiles, The Mummies of Ürümchi, and The Dancing Goddesses, among other works. Professor emerita of archaeology and linguistics at Occidental College, she now lives in Utah.

Praise For…

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Elizabeth Barber is as knowing and perceptive as any archaeologist-author in sight…Her topic is wonderfully fresh.
— Scientific American