ABSTRACT
The debate as to whether or not fathers have always been in command has been underway for about a century and a half, and many maintain that the patriarchal forms of society which dominate the history of the Western world were preceded, in prehistoric times, by a matriarchy. No subject could be less neutral. The notion that the first human society must surely have been a matriarchy has often gone hand in hand with the fervent idealism of some of the authors who propose it. J.J.Bachofen (1861) intended to reach a new understanding of the historical foundations of law; H.L.Morgan (The League of Iroquois, 1851; Systems of Consanguinity, 1871; Ancient Society, 1877) was one of the earliest voices to speak in defense of the rights of indigenous peoples; Frederick Engels (1884) joined forces with Marx for the liberation of the proletariat; E.Neumann (1956) offered a reinterpretation of prehistoric times in the light of analytical psychology; the vast research of M.Gimbutas (1989) is dedicated to the re-evaluation of the feminine matrix of European culture.1 All of these scholars were motivated by interests which extended beyond their fields of specialization, and all were firmly opposed to the typical aggressiveness of patriarchal culture.
