We should not be surprised to find the Goddess or mother earth to be at the center of rituals and ceremonies in ancient Crete. Where evidence concerning leadership roles is lacking, it should not be assumed that leadership must have been in the hands of men. The miniature frescoes from Knossos show a group of older women sitting in the place of honor and a group of women performing a ritual dance. Williams noted the presence of priestesses. If ancient Crete was matrilineal, matrifocal, and matriarchal, we should expect to find evidence that women were not only strong and independent, but also that they had leadership roles in religion and culture. Boyd Hawes argued that the archaeological evidence showed not only the pre-eminence of the Goddess, a conclusion with which Williams agreed, but also the strength and independence of women in a culture she defined as matriarchal and matrilineal, centered around the Mother family. Williams presented an incipiently feminist, woman-centered, analysis of the religion of ancient Crete in Gournia, the book describing their excavation of a Minoan village at the beginning of the twentieth century. If we begin from the hypothesis ancient Crete was matriarchal, matrifocal, and matrilineal, what would we expect to be the central focus of the its religion?* Harriet Boyd Hawes and her colleague Blanche E.
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