Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines

This is a fascinating book written by an equally fascinating woman. After raising six children and working as a nurse in Idaho and cattle rancher in South America, Dr. Jeannine Davis-Kimball went back to school and earned a bachelor's degree in art history from California State University at Northridge at 49, becoming the first woman in her family to obtain a degree. Her interest in past civilizations motivated her to obtain a master's degree and then a Ph.D., and when she went on an archealogical dig in Israel for a "lark," she discovered her true life's passion. Her book is certainly no dry technical dissertation on archeological finds! Dr. Davis-Kimball is a gifted writer who knows how to tell a story and convey a bit of history, anthropology, and her own observations of human behavior in a very entertaining manner. Her book reads like a novel with an interesting storyline and detailed character descriptions of the people who accompany her on her explorations, as well as the nomads she lives with and studies. When she begins her career as an archeaologist, she notes that the western views of ancient peoples have relegated women to motherhood and tending the household. She finds that her learned colleagues are quick to characterize graves with weapons as male, something she begins to dispute in light of Russian evidence that there were once women warriors in the nomadic tribes. Dr. Davis-Kimball's research eventually proves this fact and she takes the reader along in the caravans of trucks she and her group take to remote locations in Russia and China where they camp weeks on-end like nomads themselves, digging in temperatures that soar above 100 degrees during the day and below freezing at night. Much of her research incorporates the cultures of the nomadic tribes that still wander Siberia and Asia today, as their traditions and way of living is virtually the same as centuries ago, and she was fortunate to be welcomed into the tribal group and allowed to participate in tribal rituals as well as their daily life. Along with the story of her excavations and stays with nomadic tribes, she includes sidebars throughout the book on various topics from the Sheila-na-gigs and women warriors of Celtic Ireland to the status of prostitutes in ancient Greece. The book is a celebration and proof that women have indeed been warriors and priestesses and held positions of power and influence throughout history, and then as times changed, been relegated to less important roles or executed for trying to exert themselves as warriors.

Jeannine Davis-Kimball tells us about her adventures in exploring women's roles in ancient Eurasia through archaeological sites, Greek and Roman legends and how the people of the steppe tribes live now. She moves across the land with the speed of thought, from the mummies of China to the warrior queens of Erie. Woman were nurturers, warriors and leaders (and still are in Mongolia) sharing both power and responsible within the tribes. I think the best part about the book is not only showing that women were sometimes in charge but that men within these societies were also nurturers and shared with the daily chores. Maybe both men and women were just too busy with life to worry about sexism and gender issues. Maybe sexism is a byproduct of progress?The book covers alot but doesn't get bogged with too much detail. Very much up-to-date information. I don't think I agree with one or two points but it's an enjoyable book to read.

Dr. Jeannine Davis-Kimball discovers her passion for archaelogy late in life and desires to excavate the Kurgans of the Eurasian people. When fellow archaeologist Leonid Yablonsky invites her to join an American-Russian team working at Pokrovka on the Russian-Kazakstan border, she gets her chance. As the dig progresses, Davis-Kimball, Yablonsky and the rest of the team unearth the remains of male warriors, men buried with children, warrior women, priestesses, warrior-priestesses, and hearth women. The roles of these ancient individuals are assigned based on the grave goods buried with them. Dr. Davis Kimball writes: "It could not have been more fortuitous for me that the Early Nomads believed their possessions had to be included in their graves." This is the focus point of the book. Starting with the finds at Pokrovka, Dr. Davis-Kimball follows every possible thread in time and space, to give us as complete as possible a picture of the Eurasian people in general and the lives of the women in particular--not just the warrior women, but the priestesses and hearth women as well. Dr. Davis-Kimball states that the Indiana Jones myth of archaeology must be dispelled, and then she goes on a series of travels and adventures (all wonderfully written) that would have daunted even that fictional hero, who I don't think could have faced the KGB with the intelligence and patience she does. Her travels take her from Northern Ireland to western China. She travels in history from about 4000 B.C.E. to the modern day. She visits dozens of museums, many countries, and even lives with a modern day family of nomads. It seems that Dr. Davis-Kimball was motivated to write a book about women, and specifically about warrior women, only after she realized that warrior women's graves had been excavated for over 50 years by other archaeologists, and then the women were all but forgotten. She writes:"I was frustrated by the lack of interest exhibited by many historians and archaeologists regarding the status of women in the societies they studied." And: "I understood that women of high status were hidden in the shadows of traditional interpretations. It was time to launch a treasure hunt." Her gift to the world is to simply tell the truth about what she, and others, have discovered. For those who saw the NOVA documentary about "The Mysterious Mummies of China", (the caucasoid mummies discovered in China's Xinjiang province), Dr. Davis-Kimball was invited to be part of that documentary team, and there is an excellent chapter in her book that tells the story behind the documentary. Dr. Davis-Kimball is gracious in giving credit to others. There must be several hundred names in this book of the people she has worked with, or whose work she has studied. There is even a touch of romance as she writes praisingly of her husband (an engineer) who was part of the team at Pokrovka, and who accompanies her in her numerous travels. And finally, this book was an inspiration,