Produced by Steven Gibbs, Irma Spehar and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE POSITION OF WOMAN IN PRIMITIVE SOCIETY BY THE SAME AUTHOR THE TRUTH ABOUT WOMAN _BOOKS ON ART_ A RECORD OF SPANISH PAINTING THE PRADO (Spanish Series) EL GRECO " VELAZQUEZ " PICTURES IN THE TATE GALLERY _BOOKS ON SPAIN_ MOORISH CITIES IN SPAIN THINGS SEEN IN SPAIN SPAIN REVISITED: A SUMMER HOLIDAY IN GALICIA SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (Mediæval Towns’ Series) CATHEDRALS OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN SPAIN THE POSITION OF WOMAN IN PRIMITIVE SOCIETY A STUDY OF THE MATRIARCHY BY C. GASQUOINE HARTLEY (MRS. WALTER M. GALLICHAN) AUTHOR OF “THE TRUTH ABOUT WOMAN.” LONDON EVELEIGH NASH 1914 DEDICATION TO ALL WOMEN “Be not ashamed, women, your privilege includes the rest.... You are the gates of the body, you are the gates of the soul.... And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man. And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men.” WALT WHITMAN. _7 Carlton Terrace, Child’s Hill._ 1914. CONTENTS PART I THE PRIMITIVE FAMILY CHAP. PAGE I INTRODUCTORY 11 II AN EXPOSITION OF BACHOFEN’S THEORY OF THE MATRIARCHATE 26 III DIFFICULTIES AND OBJECTIONS: AN ATTEMPT TO RECONCILE MOTHER-RIGHT WITH THE PATRIARCHAL THEORY 45 IV DEVELOPMENT IN THE PATRIARCHAL FAMILY AND THE RISE OF MOTHER-POWER 67 PART II THE MOTHER AGE CIVILISATION V THE MATRIARCHAL FAMILY AMONG THE AMERICAN INDIANS 95 VI THE MATERNAL FAMILY AMONG THE KHASIS 132 VII FURTHER EXAMPLES OF THE MATERNAL FAMILY 147 VIII MOTHER-RIGHT CUSTOMS AND THE TRANSITION TO FATHER-RIGHT 166 IX WOMEN AND PRIMITIVE INDUSTRY 192 X TRACES OF MOTHER-RIGHT CUSTOMS IN ANCIENT AND MODERN CIVILISATION 209 XI THE SURVIVALS OF MOTHER-RIGHT IN FOLK-LORE, IN HEROIC LEGENDS, AND IN FAIRY STORIES 235 XII CONCLUDING REMARKS 253 PART I THE PRIMITIVE FAMILY CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY