PART 2 Continued from above:
I'm not an historian by trade; I'm a lawyer. But the study of law hinges on learning, understanding and interpreting history. Historical accounts are written by the victors, not the vanquished.
Graves that were traditionally assumed to be those of male warriors are being re-examined, and, thanks to the emergence of DNA science, are actually being re-classified as the graves of female warriors of the ancient world. Women were far more common than was assumed. (Especially in the Celtic culture.) We are also cultivating a new understanding of the role of women gladiators. When once we believed they were mythical, we are discovering they actually did exist. How rare they were is still unknown.
Female warriors were not uncommon in the Viking Culture, either. Whether they sailed with their male children and male counterparts as a family, or whether they came over in all-female ships to conquer, evidence is being unearthed that tell us that some Viking warriors were women.
Our assumptions about the "myth" of the Amazons are also being revised. See: the Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World, see: Amazon.com.
Here you'll find a collective effort of people creating a compendium of Powerful Women Warriors from 1500BCE to 1500 CE. See: Geni.com Also check out this interesting article about female warriors in the Middle Ages. See Womenshistorymonth.wordpress.com
For anyone with more than a passing interest in this topic, let me recommend Jean Davis Kimball's Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines, Amazon.com. She does a great job separating fact from fiction, having spent a lot of time living and working in the Russian steppes where DNA has uncovered the modern descendants of the ancient amazons. Also, check out Wiki's section on women in ancient warfare: En.wikipedia.org
For those who feel history and archeology are too dry and dull, this is a thoroughly enjoyable article, very humorous but competent. Top 10 Badass Female Warriors, see:
Listverse.com
These is for people who find this topic of interest. I hope that some might benefit from it. I'd be THRILLED if some game developer actually put out a game that relied on the Xena Warrior Princess characters. (It's one of my all time favorite shows.) Very sorry it is so wordy. It's a topic deserving far better than I've given it. If this isn't worthwhile, the OP can hopefully just delete it.
cybersleuth58
Sue joined
Retired attorney. Love space combat sims. Enjoy beta testing and helping when I can.