19/04/2024
The Guardian reports that gender radical, androgynous and possibly lesbian loving women, who lived on the edges of the Ancient Greek world, were more than just a myth. Recent archaeological evidence suggests that there really was an all female society of women who lived and fought as men. Burials unearthed in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and parts of the Caucuses, reveal many women buried with bows and arrows, and showing signs of prolonged time on horseback, firing bows and arrows. The Greek records always spoke of Amazonian women, who shattered gender norms of the ancient world. Historian Bettany Hughes will explore the possible ramifications of recent historical work in a forthcoming series for Channel Four Television which will take her across the Silk Roads to China. The episode on Amazonian women will be part of this series. In the village of Khinhalig in the Caucasus mountain range, Bettany will learn stories from the Bronze Age. “They said, ‘all of our grandmothers fought. The men were all away with the herds. The women always used to cover their faces to fight’, which is exactly what the ancient sources said, so that people didn’t know whether they were women or men.”
