The Living Goddesses caps off a period of groundbreaking and influential work by one of the foremost scholars of the 20th century. Marija Gimbutas wrote and taught with rare clarity about her original (and initially shocking) interpretation of the European prehistoric civilization Gimbutas contradicted the theories held by representatives of contemporary archeology when he reconstructed the future of goddess-centered cultures that predated historical patriarchal cultures by many thousands of years. This volume, which the author was nearing completion at the time of her death, contains the excerpt of her studies, combined with new discoveries, insights, and analysis. The editor (Miriam Robbins Dexter) has added introductory and concluding comments, summaries, and annotations. The first part of the book is a beautifully illustrated and accessible summary of all of Gimbutas's earlier work on ancient European religion, along with her insights into the roles of men and women in ancient matrilineal cultures. The second part offers knowledge that provides current information about the goddesses, which in many places and in many ways still endure.