Have we really gotten more "civilized" over the millenia?

From Riane Eisler's seminal book Chalice and the Blade - "Most of what we have learned to believe to think of as our cultural evolution has in fact been interpretation. Moreover... this interpretation has more often than not been the projection of the prevailing dominator worldview. It has consisted of conclusions drawn from fragmentary data interpreted to conform to the traditional model of our cultural evolution as a linear progression from "primitave man" to so called "civilized man," who despite their many differences, shared a common preoccupation with conquering, killing and dominating."

"Through scientific excavations of ancient sites, archaeologists have in recent years obtained a great deal of primary information about prehistory, particularly about the Neolithic, when our ancestors were first settled in communities sustained by farming and breeding of stock. Analyzed from a fresh perspective, these excavations provide the database for a re-evaluation, and reconstruction, of our past."