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The Guardian
6 days ago
- The Guardian
‘Women are the guardians of our culture': why Kihnu is Estonia's island of true equality
'Welcome to Kihnu. We are not a matriarchy,' says Mare Mätas as she meets me off the ferry. I've stepped on to the wild and windswept Kihnu island, which floats in the Gulf of Riga off Estonia's western coast like a castaway from another time. Just four miles (7km) long and two miles wide, this Baltic outpost is a world unto itself that has long been shielded from the full impact of modernity, a place where motorbikes share the road with horse-drawn carts, and women in bright striped skirts still sing ancient sea songs. But Kihnu is no museum – it's a living, breathing culture all of its own, proudly cared for by its 650 or so residents. Mare, a traditional culture specialist and local guide, promptly ushers me into the open back of her truck and takes me on a whistlestop tour of the island, giving me a history quiz as we stop at the museum, the lighthouse, the cemetery and the school. The men of Kihnu would once have spent many months away at sea, sailing or hunting seals. Out of necessity, the women of the island became the heads of the family as well as the keepers of the island's cultural heritage. This led to Kihnu being nicknamed 'the island of women', and the BBC even proclaimed it 'Europe's last surviving matriarchy'. But Mare is very clear: 'If you must use a word, you could say that our culture is matrifocal. But I prefer to say that on Kihnu we are simply equal. Women have status in the community, and older women have a higher status – they are seen as wise elders. Women work as the guardians of our culture, and we look after the circle of life on the island – we have the children, we tend the land, we care for the dead.' The women of Kihnu have been lighthouse keepers, tractor drivers and even stand-in priests. Today, they play ancient melodies on violin and accordion, teach their daughters traditional dances and sing Kihnu's eerily beautiful runic songs, believed to be of pre-Christian origin. Most eyecatchingly, they wear traditional dress – bright red woollen skirts, embroidered blouses and patterned headscarves. These aren't just garments donned for weddings or festivals – this is the only place in Estonia where folk dress is still donned daily. Mare is wearing a red striped kört skirt and woollen jacket. Her daughters, in their teens and 20s, pair their traditional skirts with slogan T-shirts. The skirts are woven every winter and each tells the story of the wearer. Young women usually wear red – they are supposedly in the 'fairytale' era of their lives. If a woman is in mourning, she will don a black skirt. Over the months, her skirts will include more red and purple stripes until she's dressed in joyful red again. A married woman wears an apron over her skirt, and new fashions and patterns still influence designs today. 'When paisley was brought to the island from India, we began using it for our headscarves,' explains Mare. 'And in the 1960s, when miniskirts were the rage, we wore mini körts!' I spot women of all ages dressed in bright flashes of red as I cycle about the island's dirt roads on a sit-up-and-beg-bike. Kihnu is a patchwork of wildflower meadows and pine groves, edged by rocky coastline and dotted with wooden homes painted in primary yellows and reds. Outside one homestead I meet Jaak Visnap. An artist from Tallinn, he has run naive art camps here every summer for 20 years. Historically, many of the island's sailors were also naive painters (artists who typically have no formal training and exhibit a simplicity in their work), and when I meet Jaak, he and a group of painting students from Kihnu and the mainland are busy working on richly coloured paintings for an exhibition in the island's museum. Estonians often label themselves as cold and standoffish, but the painters welcome me warmly and offer me wine. The sun comes out and transforms the island – moody grey skies swept away by golden light – so I join them for a swim in the warm, shallow sea. As we bob on our backs in the evening glow, Viola from Tallinn tells me a joke: 'It's raining, and a foreigner asks an Estonian man: 'Don't you have summer in this country?' 'Of course,' he replies. 'But sadly I was at work that day.'' Before I leave the painters, I ask Jaak how the island has changed since his first summer here. 'This used to be the fishing island,' he says. 'Now, it's the tourist island.' But visitors don't seem to have transformed Kihnu just yet. Locals may drive modern cars and trucks, but I also pass Soviet-era motorbikes with side cars. There are a few shops and cafes, but they sell smoked dried fish and seal meat as well as coffee and cakes. Sign up to The Traveller Get travel inspiration, featured trips and local tips for your next break, as well as the latest deals from Guardian Holidays after newsletter promotion Outside her craft shop, I meet Elly Karjam, who knits the traditional troi sweaters worn by Kihnu's men, beautifully patterned in blue and white wool woven into protective symbols. 'I can knit hundreds of jumpers every winter, and each takes me 200 hours,' she says, her fingers clicking in a blur as she works on a new masterpiece for the local priest. Mare tells me that the island only wants to attract tourists interested in culture and craftsmanship, and that the islanders are musing over whether campervans should be banned. But tourism also allows the next generation to remain on the island, rather than leave for the mainland in search of work. And for now, most visitors seem to embrace slow travel, staying with local people in guest houses and B&Bs, and visiting to join midsummer dances and violin festivals, to learn to paint or knit, or just to find pastoral peace. The 'island of women' is a misnomer. Instead, Kihnu feels like an old-fashioned yet balanced place that moves to the beat of its own drum (or perhaps, the hum of its own accordion). In winter, cloaked in snow, it must be a tough place to live. But in summer, this slow-paced island is a joy to explore. As I leave, the rain that makes it so lush and green returns. The ferry has barely left the harbour before Kihnu is swallowed in the grey sea, a place of legend once again. Kihnu is reached by a one-hour ferry crossing from Munalaid harbour, which is an hour's bus journey from the coastal town of Pärnu. See Mare Mätas offers guided tours of Kihnu as well as guesthouse accommodation on her farm, about £40 a person a night, Elly Karjam offers comfy bedrooms and a traditional sauna on her homestead, where she also sells her knitting and homemade crafts, Pitch a tent at Kihnu Vald campsite,
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Archeologists make surprising discovery at hidden ancient city site
Archeologists have unearthed additional evidence that women, not men, ruled an ancient city in Turkey which has been buried for thousands of years. The discovery could rewrite what we know about the earliest days of civilization and about gender roles throughout history, experts say. In a landmark study published in journal Science, researchers analyzing ancient DNA from nearly 400 skeletons at Catalhoyuk, a remarkably well-preserved Neolithic settlement in southern Turkey, revealed powerful clues that this early civilization operated under a matriarchal system. The settlement, a warren of mudbrick homes and goddess-like statues dating back to 7100 BCE, has long been a source of mystery and wonder. Experts have long suspected that women and girls were key figures in this agricultural society. But DNA analysis now confirms that women were buried with far more grave goods than men - and that daughters stayed with their maternal households, while sons often left. The astonishing find has electrified the archeological world, challenging generations of assumptions about who held power in humanity's earliest cities and suggesting that the world's first great urban cultures may have rested on the shoulders of women. The vast settlement - spread over 32.5 acres (13.2 hectares) - was already known for its sprawling homes, elaborate art, and mysterious goddess-like figurines. Now, the latest genetic evidence has provided clues that women were not only the spiritual symbols of Catalhoyuk but may have been its true rulers. In a painstaking investigation spanning more than a decade, a team of geneticists, archeologists, and biological anthropologists extracted DNA from the skeletons of over 130 people buried beneath the floors of 35 separate houses at the site. In total, nearly 400 individuals have been recovered in graves at Catalhoyuk, a city once bustling with life for more than a thousand years. What they found was extraordinary: a strong genetic pattern showing maternal connections within the buildings. Women and their daughters were consistently buried together, while men seemed to arrive from outside, suggesting they married into the households of their wives. Researchers believe that as many as 70 to 100 per cent of female offspring stayed attached to their maternal homes across generations, while males moved away. And the evidence of women's elevated status does not end there. Grave goods such as precious ornaments, tools, and other offerings were found five times more often in female burials than in male ones, a clear sign of preferential treatment and status in death that mirrored social power in life. Dr. Eline Schotsmans, a co-author of the study and research fellow at the University of Wollongong's School of Science in Australia, urged modern audiences to rethink outdated assumptions about ancient gender roles. The idea that a Neolithic city could have been matriarchal is not new in myth or folklore. Catalhoyuk's iconic clay statues depicting rounded, powerful female figures have long teased the possibility of a society with women at the helm. But this new DNA evidence offers the first scientifically grounded window into how such a social structure might have worked in practice. Benjamin Arbuckle, an archeologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who was not involved in the study, wrote in a perspective in Science that 'if the sex patterns were reversed, there would likely be little hesitation in concluding that patriarchal power structures were at play.' 'This is reflective of the difficulty that many scholars have in imagining a world characterized by substantial female power despite abundant archeological, historic, and ethnographic evidence that matriarchal fields of power were and are widespread,' he added.
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Archaeologists make surprising discovery at hidden ancient city site
Archaeologists have uncovered a bombshell at a hidden ancient city that had been buried for thousands of years - evidence that women, not men, may have ruled society there 9,000 years ago. The discovery could rewrite what we know about the earliest days of civilization and about gender roles throughout history. In a landmark study published in Science, researchers analyzing ancient DNA from nearly 400 skeletons at Çatalhöyük, a remarkably well-preserved Neolithic settlement in southern Turkey, revealed powerful clues that this early civilization was built around maternal ancestry, possibly operating under a matriarchal system. Çatalhöyük, a warren of mudbrick homes and goddess-like statues dating back to 9000 BCE, has long been a source of mystery and wonder. But the DNA analysis turned those legends into hard science, showing that women were buried with far more grave goods than men - and that daughters stayed with their maternal households, while sons often left. The astonishing find has electrified the archaeological world, challenging generations of assumptions about who held power in humanity's earliest cities and suggesting that the world's first great urban cultures may have rested on the shoulders of women. This remarkable Neolithic city has long fascinated scholars for its sprawling homes, elaborate art, and mysterious goddess-like figurines. But the latest genetic evidence has jolted the field of archaeology with clues that women were not only the spiritual symbols of Çatalhöyük but may have been its true rulers. In a painstaking investigation spanning more than a decade, a team of geneticists, archaeologists, and biological anthropologists extracted DNA from the skeletons of over 130 people buried beneath the floors of 35 separate houses at the site. In total, nearly 400 individuals have been recovered in graves at Çatalhöyük, a city once bustling with life for more than a thousand years. What they found was extraordinary: a strong genetic pattern showing maternal connections within the buildings. Women and their daughters were consistently buried together, while men seemed to arrive from outside, suggesting they married into the households of their wives. Researchers believe that as many as 70 to 100 percent of female offspring stayed attached to their maternal homes across generations, while males moved away. And the evidence of women's elevated status does not end there. Grave goods such as precious ornaments, tools, and other offerings were found five times more often in female burials than in male ones, a clear sign of preferential treatment and status in death that mirrored social power in life. Dr. Eline Schotsmans, a co-author of the study and research fellow at the University of Wollongong's School of Science in Australia, urged modern audiences to rethink outdated assumptions about ancient gender roles. The idea that a Neolithic city could have been matriarchal is not new in myth or folklore. The research is a culmination of 31 years of excavation and the analysis and marks one of the most important geological studies in recent history In total, nearly 400 individuals have been recovered in graves at Çatalhöyük, a city once bustling with life for more than a thousand years. Bones found at the site can be seen above Çatalhöyük's iconic clay statues depicting rounded, powerful female figures have long teased the possibility of a society with women at the helm. But this new DNA evidence offers the first scientifically grounded window into how such a social structure might have worked in practice. The implications go far beyond Turkey. Only months ago, a separate team of researchers studying the late Iron Age in Britain published evidence in Nature showing that women in Celtic communities also held powerful positions through maternal kinship. Analyzing DNA from 57 graves in Dorset, scientists revealed that two-thirds of the buried individuals came from a single maternal lineage - suggesting that women maintained community ties while men likely migrated in after marriage.
New York Times
03-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
A Modern-Day Scheherazade Weaves Her Story of Motherhood, War and Exile
I'LL TELL YOU WHEN I'M HOME: A Memoir, by Hala Alyan 'Since childhood, I've been aware of an audience,' Hala Alyan writes in her gorgeous, lyrical memoir, 'I'll Tell You When I'm Home,' which examines with a poet's precision the many ways in which storytelling is rooted in matriarchy, carrying messages between mothers and daughters as a means of survival. Playing Scheherazade in a high school production of 'One Thousand and One Nights' — a character whose 'reassuring maternal voice' quite literally spins tales to keep herself alive, 'lulling us into imagination' — Alyan recalls having to improvise onstage when another cast member misses their cue, filling the awkward silence with clever lines she's invented on the spot. The audience laughs, and 'the magic of the moment endured,' she writes, 'the suspension of disbelief unbroken. It mattered so much to me that I was able to keep them believing.' Alyan, the author of two novels and five collections of poetry, uses the figure of this archetypal storyteller as a framework for her memoir. Told in short passages that loop through time, the book is organized into 11 chapters named for the various stages of a pregnancy, from preconception to months one through eight to birth and postpartum. Slipping through her past and future selves, she braids together several timelines: her nomadic coming-of-age moving between Kuwait, Beirut, Abu Dhabi, Dallas and Oklahoma City, often in the shadow of war; her addiction and sobriety in her 20s; her struggle with infertility in her 30s and the strain it put on her marriage; her five miscarriages and her eventual path to motherhood through surrogacy. At its core this is a book about longing: for motherhood, for a return to the Levantine homeland that shaped her family history, for a sense of belonging in America that never arrives, for a personal unraveling that may or may not come, for a sense of safety in her marriage that never resolves. Alyan speaks to different versions of herself across time, as though every moment in her history were happening concurrently, were still happening, playing and replaying itself, even now. The story must keep going for its teller to keep living. That story begins in 1948, with Alyan's two grandmothers: Siham and her family are being displaced from their hometown of al-Majdal, Palestine, in the Nakba; and Fatima is the daughter of a sheikh in Damascus, Syria, which she will later leave for Kuwait, and then Lebanon. 'The story of the women starts with the land,' Alyan writes in a book that casts exile and war as her inheritance. 'What is landlessness that takes root, turns inward,' she asks. 'What is it to carry that lack, that undoing.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
