Anatomy of a Backlash:
Concerning the Work of Marija Gimbutas

Charlene Spretnak (USA)

Marija Gimbutas is a renowned Lithuanian-American archaeologist who was internationally regarded as occupying the pinnacle of her field, having left an extensive written record of her pioneering work for over half a century. Yet, a backlash has arisen to dismiss her work that has gained momentum especially after her death in 1994.

Charlene Spretnak assesses five major areas in which Marija Gimbutas has contributed pioneering scholarship: 1) her concept of Neolithic “Old Europe” as a true civilization; 2) the Indo-Europeanization of Europe as articulated by her Kurgan theory; 3) her use of contextual archaeology that challenged the prevailing econometric approach by insisting that it is impossible to understand early societies without investigating their beliefs, rituals, and worldviews; 4) the development of the multidisciplinary approach to scholarship she called “archaeomythology”; and 5) by utilizing an archaeomythological approach, Gimbutas produced the first comprehensive study of Old European symbolism found in Neolithic cultural contexts throughout southeast Europe.

Spretnak investigates the growing backlash by systematically deconstructing it in terms of three phases, prefaced with a quotation by Dale Spender from Women of Ideas and What Men Have Done to Them (1982): “These techniques [of control] work by initially discrediting a woman and helping to remove her from the mainstream; they work by becoming the basis for any future discussion about her; and they work by keeping future generations of women away from her.” Spretnak concludes by presenting a number of essential issues that remain “on the table” for future discussion.