Inanna
the goddess as source
research and publications
Veronica Veen
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In 1987 Veronica Veen started her anthropological field work on Gozo, focusing on the (remains of the) women's oral tradition and its possible connections with the prehistoric goddess cultures on that island. It would soon appear, after some two years of cooperation with the archaeologist Adrian van der Blom, that Gozo could be regarded as the actual cradle of Maltese prehistory. In June 1991 he took a sabbatical leave, resulting in an extended research period of the two specialists together, soon defined by themselves as The Team, or in Maltese: 'it-Team'. Due to a complete lack of cooperation, even obstruction, from the side of the archaeological authorities, at the time personified by the notorious T. Gouder, who had refused any access to the archaeological reserve collections, they had to conduct their own research from scratch in order to acquire specific knowledge of the material culture of the goddess period (ca. 5500-2500 BC) and from there, draw conclusions on their culture and symbolism in general, especially in relation to the reknown Goddess Temples. In spite of the obstruction, they were backed by a fieldwork contract issued by the Ministry of Education of Malta. To inform the Dutch friends, collegues and relatives in an efficient and pleasant way about the (at times astonishing) progress made during that field work, a tiny, handwritten and illustrated magazine was issued from November 1991 onwards, called 'Snoefschrift' (a contamination of 'snoeven' = to boast and 'proefschrift' = dissertation). The last two of them, written at the zenith of the crisis, were translated in English under the title of 'Dissentation'. Though mainly satirical, the twelve 'Snoefschriften' of 1991-1993 give a good picture of both the field work results and the destructive attempts of the Museums Department of Malta. Later, in 1994, they started a court case against the two, that was flagrantly lost by the Museum authorities in 1995, in spite of the Maltese judicial tradition to favour gouvernment institutions. On the other hand, 'The Team' was continuously supported by all kinds of gouvernmental and other official organizations, such as the Gozo Ministry, the National Tourist Organization and a decisive segment of the press, and also by many Gozitan intellectuals. Apart from them, there must have been many unknown actors in the background. Two of the most gifted lawyers volunteered in the final court case. 'It-Team' was even sponsored by a hotel! Selection of 'Snoefschriften', books, articles and memoranda, appeared during the 'archaeological wars of 1991-1995 (in chronological order)
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