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Paleolithic Venuses are prehistoric sculptures that are traditionally thought, by experts to be images that adore and glorify female fertility. There are three reasons why most historians who study the Paleolithic era support this traditional idea. One, most analysts only use a sampling of the 188 figurines and most of them are pregnant. Secondly, the name Venus itself conjures up the notion of fertility. Thirdly, most analysts assume that during the Paleolithic era that childbearing was something that was sacred and thus needing to be glorified with a statue. Rice offers an alternative point of view of the motivation for the creation of the Paleolithic Venuses. Rice’s position on Paleolithic Venuses is that they do not solely represent women’s fertility, but instead symbolize womanhood. Rice’s position is based on her study of the Paleolithic Venuses and the Paleolithic society itself. In her study, she examined all 188 figurines. First she identified five body attributes; hips, stomach, breasts, faces, and buttocks. After Rice identified these features, she categorized them into three groups: young, which are women who are pre-reproductive. Two, “middle” which are women who are reproductive. In this category she subdivided this group into two types, pregnant and non-pregnant. Finally, the third group are “old” or the post-reproductive women. Four raters were trained to use these five attributes to determine which age category each of the figurines belongs to. Any major discrepancies were not allowed into her study. And the result was that only 70% or 132 figurines were used to complete the study. Out of the 132 figurines used for the study, it was determined that 23% were of women under the age of 15. 17 % were statuettes of pregnant women. 38% were of non-pregnant women in the reproductive stage, and 22% were of , post reproductive women. It was then concluded by Rice that there is no evidence to support the traditional view that the Paleolithic Venuses represent fertility since the largest group of statues were of adult women while the smallest group were made up of pregnant females. However, these results did not completely satisfy her. She then raised the question that since these figurines were not sculptured for fertility purposes, then why were these sculptures made? Rice believes that the answers to this question lie in the cultural aspects in the Paleolithic society. IN the article she discusses the roles and status of women in the society. She talks about the various responsibilities that women have in each stage of their lives. The three important jobs that women had in the society are being the reliable source of food, providing a stable home including social and sexual partnership, being the givers of life. Four other interpretations of these figurines include; the association with a fertility cult, erotic art, calendar counting, and the theory these figures represent the leaders of the Paleolithic era. These interpretations cannot answer for all of the different figurines. The interpretation dealing with the fertility cult only takes into account a small portion of the Paleolithic Venus figurines that are of pregnant women. This interpretation can be related to the term couvade and Tylor’s argument that men become resentful because of the matriarchy society and want to be in charge or their own. Thus creating “womb envy”. Alexander Marshack’s interpretation of calendar counting has to do with women’s menstrual cycle, possibly a pregnancy calendar. It is believed that men used these calendars to keep track of hunting seasons. And since the women were timely in that manner, they we used to organize the time which gave them a sense of power. Another interpretation deals with erotic art basically because the statues are nude. The association with nudity relates closely to sex. However, it is not necessarily true because the clothing circumstances in those times were different because of climate. This interpretation could have been made for girls to better understand their bodies. Finally, the theory that these figures represent women as the leaders of the society is a very important interpretation of the Paleolithic Venuses. Women become the first leaders after the era of Chaos according to the theories presented in a matriarchy view. In this standpoint, the figurines represented the leaders of the time. Women were the first leaders. In matrilineal societies, decent is traced through the mother and not the father. In addition, economic and social standing is dertermined by women. None of these interpretations completely support the views of the 19th century evolutionist Johann Jakob Bachofen. For example Tylor’s theory is similar to Bachofen’s except he doesn’t believe that women ever had power. On the other hand, they all believe that women have important characteristics that are vital in consideration to their reproductive organs, which makes them more constant with time, beautiful creatures who create and maintain life for the society. 2.) Discuss traditional Mundurucu society and how it changes due to the rubber trade. Pay special attention to the following issues: Discuss female challenges to male dominance in the Savannah villages. How do gender dynamics change in the river communities? The traditional Mundurucu society is extremely different from the way that we live. The Mundurucu is a patrilineal society that is male dominant and revealed in their descent. The men live in separate houses than the women and children. The men’s houses are called “eksa”, and when boys turn 13, they go to live in the men’s house. The Mundurucu is a very spiritual society. In the men’s house there are scared flutes called Karokos that can only be played by men and are symbolic of the sex and gender of the Mundurucu society. In addition to playing these flues, they care for them, hold, and feed and treat them as if they were their own children. The men believe that the rituals with their flutes are extremely important in order for the society to live on. The men also hunt and provide the secondary source of food. One the other hand, women in the Mundurucu society used to have control of the sacred flutes, but lost the power. Women are extremely vital to the survival of the Mundurucu society. First of all, they provide the primary source of food supply through gathering, harvesting, and food processing. They are also in charge of cleaning, reproduction and childcare. Because of the many responsibilities that women have in the Mundurucu society, they are able to find out what goes on in the men’s houses as well as develop strong relationships with other women, children and their husbands. Although the Mundurucu was a patriarchal society, the women challenged male dominance in Savannah villages in several ways. First of all, the sacred flutes that were kept in the males’ house once belonged to the women in the society. Because of the fact that they have had such a sacred object, gives them potential for obtaining the sacred flutes again. Secondly, women challenge male preeminence in the Savannah villages by their residence. The women have “matrilineal local rule”. Women in the Mundurucu society obviously have the ability to create, and carry on life. Most importantly, they are the main source of food. If the women do not produce and or gather food, the entire village would starve. Women definitely play a significant role in the Mundurucu society, which enables them to constantly challenge, the male dominance in the Savannah villages. As traders and missionaries came to their land, the traders wanted to use their resources to make rubber, and the missionaries wanted to get rid of their old religion and convert them to Catholicism. The Mundurucu eventually traded all of their land in the Savannah and had to move near the river. The males of the Mundurucu society became Catholic rubber traders. When the Mundurucu had to settle near the river, the men were the first to go, and then eventually, the women. Because they were in debt to the traders, they spent more and more time by the river. The women of the Mundurucu society enjoyed the new materials that the traders had to offer. Ultimately, the entire Mundurucu society was forced to live near the river. As a result of moving near the river, the lives of the Mundurucu changed dramatically. First of all, the social sphere was altered. There were no longer any men’s houses. This results in a great change in the gender dynamics. This effected the relationships that women had with other women as well as their own children. It brought upon an enormous change in the sense that they no longer had such a strong same sex solidarity. Also, the husband helps more around the house. Murphy argues that the women like this better because they get help from the men. Economically in the Savannah, the women were the main providers. However, because the men did business with the traders, they became the main provides when the society settled near the river. As a result, women became more subservient. Women were helps, and the leading consumers. The Mundurucu religion in the Savannah villages was non-existent in the river communities. In the Savannah, the big ritual center was the man’s house. The Mundurucu became Catholic which limited the power women could have in religion. Since their settlement to the river, their society became more modernized in comparison to the remainder of the western world. Bibliography: Word Count: 1602
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