Early Man Was a Woman
Reclaiming Prehistory
Will be published approx. on 1. September 2026
Book
Hardback
256 pages
979-8-89303-137-9 (ISBN)
Description
History is written by the victors, and the victors are men. This assumption colors our view of every past era: The fittest survive. The strongest rule. "Human nature" is intrinsically warlike.
The record tells a different story.
Across the globe, over millennia-immortalized in bone, stone, and fired clay-archaeologists find: women. From 40,000 years ago until the birth of Christ, statuettes of women-in poses totally free of shame-overwhelmingly outnumber depictions of men.
Why did our prehistoric ancestors portray women so consistently, so predominantly? And what does this tell us about how our societies have evolved-or devolved?
In immersive imagery and sweeping sequences, award-winning author and artist Ulli Lust ranges with grace across archaeology, anthropology, art history, and her own lived experience to "reset" the human narrative. She brings to vivid life the prehistoric people whose greatest victory was sheer survival-a group effort achieved by women, men, children, and nonbinary people-in societies far more egalitarian than we, their modern descendants, have dared to imagine.
Magisterially conceived, intensively researched, brilliantly executed, Early Man Was a Woman is a towering achievement-a profound retelling of the human story-from the very beginning to today.
The record tells a different story.
Across the globe, over millennia-immortalized in bone, stone, and fired clay-archaeologists find: women. From 40,000 years ago until the birth of Christ, statuettes of women-in poses totally free of shame-overwhelmingly outnumber depictions of men.
Why did our prehistoric ancestors portray women so consistently, so predominantly? And what does this tell us about how our societies have evolved-or devolved?
In immersive imagery and sweeping sequences, award-winning author and artist Ulli Lust ranges with grace across archaeology, anthropology, art history, and her own lived experience to "reset" the human narrative. She brings to vivid life the prehistoric people whose greatest victory was sheer survival-a group effort achieved by women, men, children, and nonbinary people-in societies far more egalitarian than we, their modern descendants, have dared to imagine.
Magisterially conceived, intensively researched, brilliantly executed, Early Man Was a Woman is a towering achievement-a profound retelling of the human story-from the very beginning to today.
Reviews / Votes
"International BestsellerWinner of the 2025 German Nonfiction Prize
Published in More Than 10 Languages
Praise for the German edition of Early Man Was a Woman
"The time has long since arrived when such books must be written. Ulli Lust captivates readers and draws them deeply into the social life of early humans . . . [creating] a compelling mix for reflection on our understanding of 'womanhood.'" -- Christine Neugebauer-Maresch, Institute of Prehistory and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna "[Early Man Was a Woman] offers a completely new perspective on our prehistory and early history. And this perspective is feminine." -- Nina Apin, taz "Praise for Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life and How I Tried to Be a Good Person
"[A] sprawling, meditative graphic novel . . . [that] ripples with exuberance: [Lust] convincingly evokes her teenage feelings of fury and joy, and the small details of the way she experienced unfamiliar places for the first time." -- Douglas Wolk, The New York Times "An intimate and imaginative follow-up graphic memoir to Lust's Ignatz award-winning punk travelogue." -- Publishers Weekly "Lust's energetic, searching book . . . reveals the power of desire-and the pain when jealousy rears its head." -- The Guardian "This comic is a sensation. Ulli Lust has a story to tell that is unparalleled." -- Andreas Platthaus, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
US School Grade: Ninth Grade and over
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
Color illustrations throughout
Dimensions
Height: 260 mm
Width: 193 mm
ISBN-13
979-8-89303-137-9 (9798893031379)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Ulli Lust, born in Vienna in 1967, is an award-winning comic artist and illustrator. The German edition of this book, published in 2025, won that year's EUR25,000 German Nonfiction Prize, awarded by Germany's publishers and booksellers association-the first time a graphic-format book was awarded the prize.
Ulli Lust's graphic memoir Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life garnered international acclaim and won the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Ignatz Award. Her subsequent books include How I Tried to Be a Good Person and Voices in the Dark, based on the novel by Marcel Beyer.
She teaches drawing and comics at the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Elizabeth Lauffer is a German-English literary translator based in the US. She has also translated Does My Child Need Me to Lead or to Follow? by Claudia Schwarzlmueller for The Experiment.
Ulli Lust's graphic memoir Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life garnered international acclaim and won the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Ignatz Award. Her subsequent books include How I Tried to Be a Good Person and Voices in the Dark, based on the novel by Marcel Beyer.
She teaches drawing and comics at the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Elizabeth Lauffer is a German-English literary translator based in the US. She has also translated Does My Child Need Me to Lead or to Follow? by Claudia Schwarzlmueller for The Experiment.
Content
The Shame
Social Behavior in Great Apes
Daughters and Sons of the First Humans
Today Everything is Different
A Snake in Paradise
The Human Color
Cold Grassland
The First Sculptors
Human Bones
Mammoths
Hunters
Tide
Social Behavior in Great Apes
Daughters and Sons of the First Humans
Today Everything is Different
A Snake in Paradise
The Human Color
Cold Grassland
The First Sculptors
Human Bones
Mammoths
Hunters
Tide