Rome, Vatican Museum

Metropolitan Museum, NY

The Wounded Amazon Copies after originals known to have been created by Polykleitos and Phidias for a competition in Ephesus won by Polykleitos. Courtesy of K. Andrus-Walck, CU The Springs.

Jeannine Davis-Kimball is the head archaeologist of a site in Kazakhstan at which burial sites have been unearthed which support the existence of women warriors. Females buried with weapons, as well as other women, some priestesses, some apparently homemakers, give evidence that women did indeed participate in battle. The curved leg bones of one woman attest to a life spent on horseback, which Davis-Kimball concludes is evidence of women's participation in activities that were for the Greeks, male dominated. An arrowhead within the body of another woman apparently was the cause of death, direct evidence of women's participation in battle.

The existence of women warriors is also supported by a 1972 discovery in the town of Ordzhonikidze in the southern Ukraine of the grave of a male, female, and infant apparently belonging to a royal caste. Weapons buried alongside the woman again gives evidence of women participating in battle. This once more supports the theory that women were indeed warriors in ancient cultures, but there is no proof that this is the same culture as the Amazons. The burial of a man and infant with the woman instead give evidence of a culture based on equality between men and women, rather than one in which women dominated the culture. This site, like that in Kazakhstan, does not prove the existence of Amazons, but of a culture in which women participated in battle.

There is no evidence at the existing archaeological sites of the Amazonian culture, but there is some indirect evidence of their occupation at the home Herodotus ascribes to them, the mouth of the river Thermodon. At that site, a large mound that could have served as the base of a fortification has been discovered, as well as an odd opening that could have served a ritual or religious purpose. This probably means that the site was occupied at some point, but whether or not it was the culture described by the Herodotus is unknown.

This picture shows the earliest, largely accepted representation of Amazons. It dates back to 700 BC. The two figures on the right side are interpreted as Amazons, at least they are female warriors, because little circles on the chest indicate their breasts. They are armed with spear and shield and they wear a long patterned gown and a very broad girdle. Most probably it depicts the fight between Hercules and the Amazon Queen Hippolyte. Courtesy of Mag. Gerhard Poellauer at Mysteries of Ancient History and Archaeology.

A less definite means of exploring the existence of Amazons is examining Greek art which depicts women bearing arms and engaging in combat. There are many examples of this on vases and other objects d'art, but this is by no means proof of their existence. Mythical stories and fantastic creatures are also found in ancient art, thus the depiction of Amazons in Greek art as well as that of other cultures does not support the argument for their existence.

Having examined the archaeological evidence for the existence of women warriors, perhaps related culturally in some way to the Amazons, the next task for the scholar is to examine how these facts relate to the fictions generated by ancient authors. The quote beginning this web site comes from Herodotus, and is his description of the Amazons' view of themselves. He also states that they could be seen "riding in the hunt, sometimes with, sometimes without, their men, taking part in war and wearing the same sort of clothes as men." This is the traditional view of Amazons in mythology: women who participate in war, acting independently of the men in their culture.

The name Amazon itself means "without breast", referring to the legend that in order to ease their use of the bow, women would sear one breast of a girl child when an infant, in order that the breast would not develop. This is perhaps the most barbaric of the customs ascribed to the Amazons, and the ultimate example of their denial of femininity in order to increase their effectiveness in battle. This story is told by the ancient author Diodorus of Sicily, who describes the procedure in gruesome detail.

The conclusion to be drawn from this evidence is that while there were races of women warriors in antiquity, they were not the man-hating Amazons of Greek legend. Rather, what is more likely is that these women existed in a society of equal rights to men, fighting alongside them in battle, and probably receiving assistance from men in domestic chores. Perhaps the Ancient Greeks did know about one or more of these cultures, and interpreted the culture as a society in which women dominated. However, the debate over the existence of Amazons is far from over. Scholars have no direct proof for or against the existence of Amazons, and there is no reason to believe this state of affairs will change in the near future. In the meantime, tales of Amazons will continue to captivate our imagination.

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Achilles and Penthesilea Conclusion