Women's Religious Experience in Prehistoric and Small Scale Societies

Abstract

Women's religious lives in contemporary state-based cultures seem toexist on the periphery of centralised religions headed by male clergies and male defined institutions and rituals. This was not always so for women. For over 97% of our history as human beings, women and men have participated fully in the religious lives of their communities, each in their own clearly defined spheres. Drawing on examples from women-focused anthropology and evidence from ancient history, this essay explores some aspects of women's religious lives in prehistoric and contemporary small-scale cultures, previously hidden from Western eyes by assumptions and biases which, until recently, informed anthropological investigations.