PeaceDocs | Maps Timelines | Europe 6500–1000 BCE
Updated 11.14.09
According to Marija Gimbutas (Civilization of the Goddess and other works), “Old Europe,” the Neolithic cultures of c. 6500 to c. 1500 BCE, was characterized by unwalled sites revealing a remarkably similar cult of the earth goddess who symbolized a matrifocal (neither matriarchal nor patriarchal), nonviolent culture revolving around rituals of the earth: birth, fertility, death, renewal and rejuvenation. The culture was destroyed with the arrival of patriarchal, warrior societies, who brought with them organized violence and war, and a pantheon of patriarchal sky gods that were to dominate the classical period. While often corrected, her theory has become part of scholarly consensus.
