I bought this book after attending some lectures Wayland Barber gave at Grinnell College. Amazingly well-researched, well-argued, and thought provoking, this book isn't in the least bit dry or heady. Thoroughly academic, but still a pleasent read! Tracing the global connections of development and using several disciplines to gather evidence makes for an amazing work. Who would have known linguistics to be so important to textile history? Or how much textile history can tell us not only about social history, but political history as well. Read this book.

I always assumed that the sexual division of labor made sense at one time in history. Barber has researched and illuminated one aspect of the division, and through archeology and linguistics explained the importance the women's work had at one time, and what happened to it. And made it interesting, too. Thank you.

An artist friend gave me Women's Work. Elizabeth Wayland Barber is so resourceful in her examination of the material and literary evidence that her conclusions are fresh and very persuasive. Hers is the most fasincating book I have read on this subject.

A rather good look at a very interesting mystery of pre-historic European migrations. Central to this has been the discovery of mummies some three to four-thousand years old who posses what is termed a "Caucasian" appearance, both biologically and culturally. Elizabeth Barber is an expert on ancient textiles and the first part of this book, involved in a description of mummies' textiles (from observations made on a visit there) is in her element and makes what could have been a dreadfully tedious description quite lively. It ends up being the best discussion in the book. In fact I give this book an additional star over other scholarly books of this sort - rather bland usually - for causing me to read with deep interest page after page about what is really an analysis of textile stitching. After describing the better-preserved mummies and analyzing their goods and textile weaves and patterns, she then approaches the whole question of their origins and especially in whether one can link this culture to the theoretical proto Indo-European language-speakers. At this point there is an interesting but rather plainly-written collection of a good deal of information provided by explorers into the region, and comparisons to other cultures such as the Celts, and some linguistic analysis. Although it kept my interest, the jumping between time, place and peoples could sometimes be confusing. And I kept having to search through the maps to remember where we were in relation to where, as these parts of Asia are not very familiar to us. It lacks at the end a good tie-up of loose ends or a summary, that seems required after such a lengthy heaping of theories.

This nicely written book by Barber starts by analysing the fabrics associated with mummies found in the Tarim basin of western China. In providing the context of her research, she gives one of the clearest outlines of the prehistory of the western Asia and eastern Europe over the last ten thousand years. Very enjoyable reading and thinking. It reminds me of those books from the 50's on the history of the world through maps, only better.

Occasionally you come across a book which is like a light in the darkness. The Mummies of Urumchi is such a book. Ms Barber's erudition is quite obvious, and yet restrained, so that what could have been as dry as the desert which preserved the mummies becomes irresistable, luminous. This author has the knack of making her subject compelling and fascinating, teaching the reader painlessly about cultures, clothing, archaeological technique and the ancient and persistent nature of man while making it FUN! This is a wonderful book which should be read by all who think they remember anything about the origins of our culture.