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

Jeannine Davis-Kimball (Author), Mona Behan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2003

Davis-Kimball weaves science, mythology and mystical cultures into a bold new historical tapestry of female warriors, heroines and leaders who have been left out of the history books-- until now.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Was Herodotus's account of the Amazons fact or fiction? Archaeologist Jeannine Davis-Kimball, in Warrior Women, an account of her digs at burial sites of Eurasian nomads, finds it an embellishment of the former. But, she posits, women's place in that world was generally more exalted than previously thought.

Nearly one-quarter of the women buried in some late Iron Age sites were either warriors or priestesses. Even the remainder, "hearth women," were important players in the tribes' surprisingly egalitarian societies. Further, southern Kazakhstan's famous "gold man" was in fact, a "gold woman." Davis-Kimball also finds solid evidence of "high status" women in graves as far east as China and as far west as Ireland.

Warrior Women is, thankfully, free of lazy sensationalism. But it is frustratingly organized, with little regard to either chronology or geography. Further, Davis-Kimball never places her finds in any sort of context, be it popular or scholarly. --H. O'Billovitch --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'Enlightening..a delightful book for armchair adventurers, archaeological enthusiasts, an anyone interested in the way that women have been portrayed.' - SARAH NELSON, author QUEENS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446679836
• ISBN-13: 978-0446679831
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Insightful Journey with an Experienced Guide..., May 4, 2004

By 

"berwynne" (Freeport, Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines (Paperback)

I must admit that I was delighted to find this book, not just because the title intrigued me, but, more importantly, because I first became familiarized with Davis-Kimball's work when I was teaching a Women's Studies class and this was the first "print" copy of her findings that I came across. Even those who don't know who Jeannine Davis-Kimball is, probably do know something about what she has done. Davis-Kimball was the first person to uncover hard archeological evidence that the Amazons of Greek legend did, in fact, exist. But unlike common misconceptions that attempt to place the Amazons everywhere in the world from Southern Europe to the South American jungles, the "real" Amazons were nomads from the outer reaches of the Russian world; Davis-Kimball's excavations at Pokrovka uncovered female burials with large caches of weapons. Kimball goes on to link the importance of the findings with evidence from the ancient Greeks, and then goes on to trace her work on the larger canvas of world history. Academic, but accessible, this is a highly recommended work from a woman who has led a fascinating life.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Move over, Indiana Jones, March 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines (Hardcover)

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, that growing old does not mean growing stale, and that, even late in life, a person can become what he or she truly wishes to be.

Equal parts archaeology, adventure, autobiography, travelogue, this is history at it's readable best.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Central Asian Women, February 17, 2002

By 

Timothy Perper (Philadelphia PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines (Hardcover)

"Women Warriors" is fascinating -- the story of a woman archeologist, Jeannine Davis-Kimball, who, in her sixties, became an archeologist in Central Asia. It's partly autobiographical, with descriptions of her travels in Kazakstan, Mongolia, and Western China, and partly science, with descriptions and photographs of her findings. --- These, all things considered, are startling: burials of women with weapons, arrow heads, elaborate costumes, and devices, like bronze mirrors, for divination. Also gold (sometimes lots of it) as well as bronze castings decorated in the so-called "Animal Style." Davis-Kimball argues (modestly enough, I think) that these finds suggest that at least some women had high rank and status in their nomadic societies, and were probably warriors and priestesses. contrary to long-held assumptions by historians that these steppe societies were ruled by men and by male, horse-riding warriors. --- She also has a bibliography, so that anyone who wants to read the original technical papers can find them. "Women Warriors" is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the history of religions, of gender, and of Central Asia.