Elizabeth Wayland Barber's Books

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

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.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

344

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393285588

ISBN 13

9780393285581

The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

A fascinating exploration of an ancient system of beliefs and its links to the evolution of dance. From Southern Greece to northern Russia, people living in agrarian communities have long believed in “dancing goddesses,” mystical female spirits who spend their nights and days dancing in the fields and forests. In The Dancing Goddesses, archaeologist, linguist, and lifelong folkdancer Elizabeth Wayland Barber follows the trail of these spirit maidens—long associated with fertility, marriage customs, and domestic pursuits—from their early appearance in traditional folktales and harvest rituals to their more recent incarnations in fairytales and present-day dance. Illustrated with photographs, maps, and line drawings, the result is a brilliantly original work that stands at the intersection of archaeology and folk traditions—at once a rich portrait of our rich agrarian ancestry and an enchanting reminder of the human need to dance.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

590

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393089215

ISBN 13

9780393089219

The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

590

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393089215

ISBN 13

9780393089219

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

344

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393285588

ISBN 13

9780393285581

Mummies Of Urumchi

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Mummies Of Urumchi

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

An absorbing exploration of the mysterious, perfectly preserved Caucasian mummies of western China--an informative unveiling of an ancient and exotic world. 16 pp. of color photos. 50 drawings. Author lectures.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

262

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393320197

ISBN 13

9780393320190

When They Severed Earth from Sky

How the Human Mind Shapes Myth

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber,Paul T. Barber

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

When They Severed Earth from Sky

How the Human Mind Shapes Myth

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber,Paul T. Barber

Why were Prometheus and Loki envisioned as chained to rocks? What was the Golden Calf? Why are mirrors believed to carry bad luck? How could anyone think that mortals like Perseus, Beowulf, and St. George actually fought dragons, since dragons don't exist? Strange though they sound, however, these "myths" did not begin as fiction. This absorbing book shows that myths originally transmitted real information about real events and observations, preserving the information sometimes for millennia within nonliterate societies. Geologists' interpretations of how a volcanic cataclysm long ago created Oregon's Crater Lake, for example, is echoed point for point in the local myth of its origin. The Klamath tribe saw it happen and passed down the story--for nearly 8,000 years. We, however, have been literate so long that we've forgotten how myths encode reality. Recent studies of how our brains work, applied to a wide range of data from the Pacific Northwest to ancient Egypt to modern stories reported in newspapers, have helped the Barbers deduce the characteristic principles by which such tales both develop and degrade through time. Myth is in fact a quite reasonable way to convey important messages orally over many generations--although reasoning back to the original events is possible only under rather specific conditions. Our oldest written records date to 5,200 years ago, but we have been speaking and mythmaking for perhaps 100,000. This groundbreaking book points the way to restoring some of that lost history and teaching us about human storytelling.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

311

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400842867

ISBN 13

9781400842865

Mummies Of Urumchi

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Mummies Of Urumchi

By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

262

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393320197

ISBN 13

9780393320190

Slavery in White and Black

Class and Race in the Southern Slaveholders' New World Order

By: Elizabeth Fox-Genovese,Eugene D. Genovese

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Slavery in White and Black

Class and Race in the Southern Slaveholders' New World Order

By: Elizabeth Fox-Genovese,Eugene D. Genovese

Southern slaveholders proudly pronounced themselves orthodox Christians, who accepted responsibility for the welfare of the people who worked for them. They proclaimed that their slaves enjoyed a better and more secure life than any laboring class in the world. Now, did it not follow that the lives of laborers of all races across the world would be immeasurably improved by their enslavement? In the Old South but in no other slave society a doctrine emerged among leading clergymen, politicians, and intellectuals - 'Slavery in the Abstract', which declared enslavement the best possible condition for all labor regardless of race. They joined the Socialists, whom they studied, in believing that the free-labor system, wracked by worsening class warfare, was collapsing. A vital question: to what extent did the people of the several social classes of the South accept so extreme a doctrine? That question lies at the heart of this book.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

315

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1139475045

ISBN 13

9781139475044

Secrets of the Middle Ages

By: James Harpur,Elizabeth M. Hallam

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Secrets of the Middle Ages

By: James Harpur,Elizabeth M. Hallam

This work looks at history from the fall of Rome to the destruction of Constantinople. Topics covered include chivalry, war, religion and the crusades.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

124

Published Date

ISBN 10

1840284579

ISBN 13

9781840284577

Book's by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times

Mummies Of Urumchi

Mummies Of Urumchi

When They Severed Earth from Sky

When They Severed Earth from Sky

Mummies Of Urumchi

Mummies Of Urumchi

Slavery in White and Black

Slavery in White and Black

Secrets of the Middle Ages

Secrets of the Middle Ages

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email