Elizabeth Wayland Barber
First published in 1994, Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber consists of ground breaking research that traces the role of women and their work with early textiles through 20,000 years of history.
Professor Barber’s painstaking research unearths the invaluable contribution of women’s labor in ancient cultures. Women worked primarily with food and clothing since their childbearing and child-rearing responsibilities required them to work close to home. Because food and clothing are perishable items which leave scant evidence of their existence, women’s work had been rendered virtually invisible.
By shifting her focus, keeping an open mind, and using a different set of lenses to examine the existing evidence, Professor Barber garners a wealth of information about women’s work with textiles from scraps of ancient cloth that survived the centuries—remnants of cloth that had been cavalierly dismissed during early excavations. She combines this exploration with closely examining the surviving tools of spinning and weaving; combing through clues in mythology and literature; deconstructing etymologies; exploring ethnographic studies; delving into documented archaeological discoveries; and contextualizing the location of artefacts. In addition, her research incorporates a hands-on approach. She garners insights by drawing the details of clothing on statues and by painstakingly weaving patterns she had observed in Mycenean frescoes as well as in other ancient sites. She argues clothing served many functions, including as a visual means of communicating the marital status and fertility of women.
The scope and meticulous quality of the research is impressive. Professor Barber does not make unwarranted leaps in conclusion but methodically and systematically allows the evidence to speak for itself. She includes an extensive list of sources and an index.
This scholarly work is highly accessible, informative, and provides a fascinating glimpse into ancient cultures. Above all, it performs the important task of rendering visible women’s invaluable contribution to shaping the warp and weft of civilizations.