In The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory, Cynthia Eller describes a dangerous,
‘ennobling lie’ that must be overturned in order for women to
have a viable future. The so-called matriarchal myth which she attempts to debunk is
the idea that human societies have not always supported male domination in social
structure and religious practice and that societies have existed in which women and
the entire natural world were honored. This article examines Eller’s
stated assumption that such ideas are utopian inventions and that male dominance is
the most reasonable, scientifically sound approach to an interpretation of prehistory.
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