Women's work : the first 20,000 years : women, cloth, and society in early times / Elizabeth Wayland Barber.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 306-322) and index.

A tradition with a reason: why textiles were traditionally women's work -- The string revolution: life in the Palaeolithic -- Courtyard sisterhood: horticultural society in the Neolithic -- Island fever: Bronze Age horticultural survivals: Minoans and others -- More than hearts on our sleeves: the functions of cloth and clothing in society -- Elements of the code: symbolism in cloth and clothing -- Cloth for the caravans: early urban manufacture in the Bronze Age Near East -- Land of linen: Middle Kingdom Egypt -- The golden spindle: outworker industries for the elite: the Mycenaeans -- Behind the myths: women's work as reflected in textile myths -- Plain or fancy, new or tried and true: Late Bronze and Iron Age urban industries -- Postscript: Finding the invisible: methods of research.