Abstract:
In 2021 David Graeber and David Wengrow released their book The Dawn of Everything: A new history of humanity to acclaim in the popular media and bestseller status in several countries. Anthropologists and Archaeologists have made critiques of a number of the book’s claims. To date, however, little critical attention has been devoted to Graeber and Wengrow’s presentation of the societies of the Aegean Bronze Age. Contrasting Crete with the “heroic societies” of the Greek mainland, the authors evoke a Minoan world of unfortified centers, art focused on the natural world, and women depicted in positions of authority. Harking back to the work of Frazer, Evans, and Gimbutas, Graeber and Wengrow posit a Cretan theocracy ruled by a college of priestesses. This paper will examine the evidence presented to back these interpretations and will ask whether the attempted resurrection of a matristic Minoan Crete is justified.
