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Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times Paperback – Illustrated, January 1, 1996

by Elizabeth Wayland Barber (Author)

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"A fascinating history of…[a craft] that preceded and made possible civilization itself." ―New York Times Book Review

New discoveries about the textile arts reveal women's unexpectedly influential role in ancient societies.

Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibers. In fact, right up to the Industrial Revolution the fiber arts were an enormous economic force, belonging primarily to women.

Despite the great toil required in making cloth and clothing, most books on ancient history and economics have no information on them. Much of this gap results from the extreme perishability of what women produced, but it seems clear that until now descriptions of prehistoric and early historic cultures have omitted virtually half the picture.

Elizabeth Wayland Barber has drawn from data gathered by the most sophisticated new archaeological methods―methods she herself helped to fashion. In a "brilliantly original book" (Katha Pollitt, Washington Post Book World), she argues that women were a powerful economic force in the ancient world, with their own industry: fabric.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton
Publication date

January 1, 1996
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
ISBN-10

0393313484
ISBN-13

978-0393313482
Lexile measure

1360L
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Editorial Reviews

Review

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

About the Author

Elizabeth Wayland Barber is the author of Women’s Work, The Dancing Goddesses, and The Mummies of Ürümchi. Professor emerita of archaeology and linguistics at Occidental College, she lives in California.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton ; 1st edition (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393313484
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393313482
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1360L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #113,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #117 in Archaeology (Books)
- #640 in Women in History
- #1,280 in Women's Studies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
298 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		82%
4 star		12%
3 star		2%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Cynthia Cook

Illuminates the crucial role of "women's work" in the development of settled human communities

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2016

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I enjoyed this book tremendously. At once scholarly and accessible, the book illuminates the lives of women in the Neolithic by creative and multidisciplinary means. A wonderful example of feminist scholarship (although I don't know what the author would make of that description!), she finds valuable information in discarded shreds of cloth, overlooked details in myths, and personal knowledge of the crafts being studied. The lives of these women come vividly to life, as well as their essential role in the development of settled communities. Her impressive breadth of knowledge allows her to support her arguments with archeological, linguistic, ethnographic evidence and more. A tremendous contribution to our understanding of human cultural development - the importance of string, for example - and the primary role of women in that development

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

John Thomas Ciappetta

Very Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2019

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I just finished reading this. I have been interested in the history of textile manufacturing for the past ten years or so and was pleased to find this at Amazon.com. I learned a great deal about looms and fabric due to the extensive work by the author. The one thing that puzzles me however is the 'sextist' attitude on the part of Elizabeth Wayland Barber. She concluded that women were the manufacturers of all looming and tailoring and that is something that cannot be verified from her research.Still, I enjoyed it thoroughly and learned a great deal. Books such as this should be part of every school's educational agenda. How else will students learn anything about the struggles of humankind without an education that covers in depth exactly what our ancestors had to do for survival?

11 people found this helpful

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Omega Cat Press

The best anthropology book ever

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2017

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This is a wonderful book about the history of textiles. After reading this, history will never be the same. For thousands of years, an overwhelming portion of human labor revolved around textiles. Who knew? Anyone interested in anthropology, archeology, women, or clothes will love this. It is one of those books that you can never forget.

26 people found this helpful

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D Martin

Excellent Reading

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2017

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Elizabeth Wayland Barber is an archaeologist, linguist, textile expert, and a teacher. In this book, she will explain the "humble yet crucial" invention of string, and take you on a tour of the places and people who so brilliantly used that string "in taming the world to human will and ingenuity." Her writing is lucid and full of insight. All stated facts are backed up with extensive sources. I borrowed this book from the library and took adequate notes yet... my notes didn't capture the spirit of the writing: Barber is telling a story that she obviously loves. She brings the lives of the ancients' to life. I wanted to hear her words again, so, a year after reading it the first time, I purchased the book to hear her tell the story again.

16 people found this helpful

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Lenore Berry

What Must It Have Been Like to Truly Have Nothing to Wear?

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2017

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Amazing, wide-ranging summary of textile development during prehistoric times extending into ancient Egyptian and Greek history. Scholarly yet accessible and engaging, Barber uses evidence from archaeological discoveries and tomb paintings, surviving traditions of design, and her own knowledge and experience as a weaver to form her conclusions. Despite the title, men played a role in textile production later in human history, as she shows from Sumerian cuneiform tablets and tomb illustrations. I read this on a Kindle, but would have profited by a better look at the many illustrations and recommend the paperback or hardcover for those. Not a casual read, but one which really increases understanding.

13 people found this helpful

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Teresa

This is a fantastic well written book detailing the early history of textiles ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2016

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I have the hard back copy first edition and I wanted a portable version so I purchased it for my Kindle and smartphones. This is a fantastic well written book detailing the early history of textiles and their role in history. Its interesting to read and easy to understand. This book isn't just for women but for everyone as it gives you a great understanding into the labor intensive process of early textile production.

19 people found this helpful

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ArtDesign1

A tantalizing glimpse into the past.

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2016

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A tantalizing glimpse into the tools and history of those who worked with fiber and made cloth, and how they wore it. The first part of this book is as exciting as when I recently saw two strand thigh spinning. Thousands of years before spinning wheels, there was thigh spinning. Thousands of years before tee shirts and jeans there were string skirts. A woman from Ghana once told me her little girls wear a string around their waist. Connecting the dots from 20,000 year old woman carvings adorned with string to a tradition still practiced today is amazing to contemplate.

11 people found this helpful

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I am not a SMURF

Amazing

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2014

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This book was referenced in Maggie Casey's Spinning One class. I became intrigued by the question: How did textiles/cooking/home become "women's work."

I snuggled up to this book and was unprepared for the scope of the book, as well as the temporal and geographic romp I would be carried into. The romp starts 30,000+ years ago.

I am easily bored, and this book was so gripping I made it half way through on the first sitting. Barber manages to weave together the disciplines of Archeology, Anthropology, History and Literature into a cohesive core that does answer the question. The scope of this book is amazing.

I highly recommend this book!

26 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mrs E.C.J.Lovell

Who made the clothes for our ancestors

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2019

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Fascinating book. Full of information, much of which was completely new to me. I discovered that women up to twenty thousand years ago had far more ability than people have realised especially in the production of fabrics. There are illustrations; these drawings are in black and white. I recommend this book without hesitation for those with an interest in the production of fabrics in ancient times.

2 people found this helpful

Dandyhighwaywoman

Good - but hard work

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book is good if you are interested in researching textiles and have a 'project' to do, but i wouldn't recommend buying it if you are wanting a casual read - it is hard going - it was literally putting me to sleep and i decided to give up on it 3/4 of the way through - but i have kept it, and intend to pick it back up at some point. some parts are VERY interesting (such as the idea of re-making artefacts and also the role of women historically) - its just a shame some of it is quite dull in-between the juicy bits.

3 people found this helpful

Annie Nicol

Discovering the origins of weaving

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2010

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As someone who has always loved textile crafts, and been interested in ancient history, folk tales and the development of language, I was enthralled by this book. The author is an archaeologist with a lifelong practical knowledge of weaving, and her search for the origins of this craft, and the ways in which it has impacted on women's lives at different times, is riveting. It is astonishing to read of the sheer volume of weaving undertaken by women in the past and to realise that the industry sometimes operated on a vast scale, with large numbers of women captured in wars being put to work as weavers and spinners. The text is enlivened not only by the author's drawings but by numerous snippets of information about women's lives in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and many other places. From queens to slaves, all women worked at warping, weaving and spinning. The author shows how important their work was to the societies in which they lived. There are stories here of Helen of Troy, of queens who wove sumptuous robes for their lords to give as gifts to other kings; of Mesopotamian traders' wives who engaged in business on their own; of Egyptian women weaving linen so fine it was see-through; of captive slaves introducing their own weaving traditions to alien lands. And the story begins in the Stone Age with a little string skirt, which gradually evolved into the girdle of Aphrodite. A fascinating read.

16 people found this helpful

Margaret Ann Jackson

Women's work.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

I found this hard work , it felt like someone's PhD . I have kept going and found the book utterly fascinating. Thank you so much.

2 people found this helpful

Jo March

Fascinating insights

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2014

Verified Purchase

I was thoroughly engaged and fascinated by the story of textiles and women's role in their creation. The research methods, using language development, myth and art to track substances too fragile to survive the passage of time were as interesting as the stories they told and I felt the book also went some way to explaining the breadth of appeal textile arts hold for women across the world.The text was accessible without being too populist or condescending to people not from the same academic discipline and added another voice to the validation of recreative research. Actually trying to carry out the tasks undertaken by our ancestors reveals so much.

2 people found this helpful

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