The Moral Authority of the Maternal: Reflected in Some Neolithic Finds and Observed In Villages of West Sumatra

Peggy Reeves Sanday (USA)

Abstract

Peggy Reeves Sanday discusses specific commonalities between the symbolism and ritual practices of the Minangkabau culture in West Sumatra and symbolic imagery found at Çatalhöyük and in the Neolithic societies of Old Europe. While there is no evidence that the Minangkabau ever made figurines of any kind, their folklore speaks of a rice goddess and of a founding Queen. Their folklore can be compared with figurines such as the clay statuette of the seated female figure flanked by two leopards from Çatalhöyük that juxtaposes maternal authority and raw animal power.  The maternal principle, which stands at the core of Minangkabau symbology, is part of an animistic ontology associating the maternal with the life-giving attributes of nature. The Minangkabau emphasize a parallel between nature and culture in which growth in nature is used as a model for cultural life. Sanday suggests that the Neolithic cultures of Europe and Anatolia placed an equivalent focus on the significance of maternal authority in connection with the cycles of life in order to maintain the health and stability of their societies.