Archaeology by period / region Books

Book SynopsisThe Rural Hinterland of Antipatris from the Hellenistic to the Byzantine Periods presents the results of extensive excavations conducted in the rural region south and east of the modern city of Rosh Ha’Ayin. The archaeological and historical data that are analysed span a period of over 1000 years. To examine the settlement pattern of the region, 22 sites were chosen, divided into five primary models, which represent a hierarchal settlement pattern: farmsteads; subsidiary villages; fortresses; monasteries and churches; towns. These five settlement types were examined throughout the periods under study. Emphasis is consistently placed on landscape archaeology – rural roads, field towers, plot boundaries, oil presses, winepresses, and terraces. A key aim is to date the creation of agricultural systems and to track the potential areas of cultivation of different agricultural products. Twelve sites dating to the Hellenistic period were found, most being farmsteads established in the Iron Age II and functioning until the 3rd Century BCE, when they were abandoned in an organized manner, possibly in the transition between Ptolemaic and Seleucid rule. During the Roman Period a dramatic decline in settlement distribution is noted, with a total of only five sites known - and among them only one large village – Migdal-Afek. Twenty more settlements from the Byzantine period were discovered, indicating a significant rise in their number from the Roman period. The settlements include large villages, manor houses and monasteries which functioned from the 5th to 8th centuries.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Chapter 1: Environmental Background ; Chapter 2: History of Research ; Chapter 3: The Sites ; Chapter 4: The Archaeological Survey - Methodology ; Chapter 5: Landscape Archaeolog ; Chapter 6: Roads and Agricultural Systems ; Chapter 7: Settlement Patterns ; Chapter 8: Comparative Study with the area South of Naḥal Shiloh ; Chapter 9: The Estimate Population in the Region ; Chapter 10: Historical Sources and Archaeological Finds ; Conclusions ; Bibliography ; List of Abbreviations

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Book SynopsisTauric Chersonesos was one of the prominent ancient Greek centres on the north coast of the Black Sea. Founded by the Herakleians, with a small group of Delians, Chersonesos was the only Dorian city in the region. This is reflected in many events and phenomena from its history and culture; it is especially apparent in its religion, related to all aspects of the private and public lives of the population. Depending on their differing historic development, each polis obtained its own peculiar ideological situation which influenced not only public religious life, but also the religious outlook of each separate family or individual. The worship of the gods within the pantheon of the polis was a key factor in the community’s consolidation, while the beliefs surrounding these deities formed a significant role in the concrete events of civic life. This comprehensive study of the cults of the gods of the Chersonesan polis, firmly based on the available sources (written, epigraphic, images of gods and their iconography on coins and in sculpture, as well as archaeological remains of cult structures), sheds new light on the religious life of this ancient Greek centre at various stages in its development.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: History of Study, Sources and Methods Chapter 2: The Supreme Gods Chapter 3: The Pantheon of Chersonesos Chapter 4: Family Cults Chapter 5: Mystery Cults Chapter 6: Burial Cults Conclusions References

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Book SynopsisBuried in the Borderlands is the result of a large-scale yet detailed study of early medieval grave furnishings from the Netherlands, aiming at the creation of a comprehensive artefact typology and updated relative chronology for this under-explored period in the Low Countries.During the early medieval period, the present-day Netherlands occupied a unique position as a border zone between the Frisians, Saxons and Merovingian Franks. For this large-scale research, grave goods were analysed from approximately 2500 inhumations from 21 cemeteries distributed across the country and incorporating the material culture of the aforementioned peoples. The resulting database was studied using the statistical research method Correspondence Analysis. A date was generated for individual artefact types and grave contexts. Creating the finds database confirmed that the varied Dutch material culture of the early medieval period cannot be analysed by only using a German or French typology. To simplify and locally embed future research as well as to allow for international comparison, a holistic typology has been developed which includes artefact types with roots in Germany, France and the surrounding countries as well as locally produced objects. All artefact types are provided with a revised date based on Dutch find contexts.

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Book SynopsisHow did the Ancient Egyptians maintain control of their state? This book considers this question from a wide variety of angles and across all periods of Egyptian history, from the Old Kingdom to Coptic times. Topics include the controlling function of temples and theology, state borders, scribal administration, visual representation, patronage, and the Egyptian language itself. These different strands are tied together by legal pluralism theory, which argues that a single state can rely on multiple and at times even contradictory strategies for upholding what it considers just within the bounds of what is nominally a single jurisdiction. This theoretical approach, while increasingly common in modern postcolonial studies and the history of law, is yet to be deployed in Egyptology. This book therefore aims to fill that gap. The chapters are expanded versions of papers originally presented at the 3rd Lady Wallis Budge Egyptology conference, organised by Christ's College and held online on 27th28th August 2020.

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Book SynopsisAlthough it is one of the main archaeological sites in Oman, the medieval port of Qalhat, near Sur in Ash-Sharqiyah Governorate, has long remained poorly documented. The extensive research initiated in 2008 by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (at the time, Heritage and Culture) shed striking light on the history of this famous harbour city, which was the twin capital of the Kingdom of Hormuz from the 13th to the 16th century. Surface surveys and excavations have revealed the plan and chronology of the city and its different districts. Mosques (including the Great Mosque built by Bibi Maryam around 1300) and other religious buildings, fortifications, and water supply systems have been identified and studied. The craft and economic activities of the city and the regional and international commercial links of the port have been reconstructed, as well as the daily life of its inhabitants, revealing the wealth and cosmopolitan character of this ancient Omani metropolis. All these results highlighted the Outstanding Universal Value of the site and eventually led to the inscription of Qalhat on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018.

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Book SynopsisContact, Circulation, Exchange collects ten articles focusing on worked hard materials of animal origin (shell, tusk, bone, antler) ranging chronologically from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages. The authors have varied academic backgrounds that enhance the archaeological analyses carried out, often at first hand, on numerous collections from the Old and New Worlds. Evidence of contact between past populations with distinct technical traditions is found in the dynamic imposed by using certain craft methods, such as stone pressure flaking (7,000 BC). Another kind of stimulus may have given rise to a tool with a specific use in the migration period, the sumak (300 BC-600 AD). Apart from the attraction of a novel technique or a new piece of equipment, it was the attraction of the raw material and the hunting sites that formed the guiding principle behind the mobility of groups within a territory, in early (35,000-12,000 BC) as in recent prehistory (up to 1500 AD). Weaponry, adornments and/or the animal species used are then powerful markers of the extent of trade routes and networks, and even of craftsmanship when related to village settlements (4,500-2,500 BC). In antiquity, the exotic rather than exogenous origin of materials was used to develop unique skills in the service of cults. In the diffusion of figurines, representation took precedence over the unique or sought-after nature of the material, whose origin remained nonetheless animal.

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Book SynopsisLife along Communication Routes from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages is the result of the conference Roads and Rivers 2 held at the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb in 2020, enriched with additional invited contributions. The volume presents the latest research on Roman roads, not just in terms of their basic infrastructure but also exploring various aspects of life that were connected with it, from the Imperial period to that of decline, acculturation and integration of new identities, within the three Roman provinces of Pannonia, Moesia and Dalmatia. Within this area, various studies of new finds, alongside new observations and ideas are presented. They add to our knowledge not just of the Roman roads themselves but also about roadside stations and other facilities in various landscape contexts (such as Mediterranean and continental areas). The contributions also investigate the distribution of goods and ideas from the Roman period to the Middle Ages, and deal with different aspects of life as it developed and was transformed along Roman roads.Table of ContentsIntroduction Šibenik’s Donje Polje – Toni Brajković, Andrija Nakić and Željko Krnčević Discovering Roman Roads of the Trilj Area – Domagoj Bužanić, Jelena Bužanić, Blaž Glavinić, Karla Ivak, Marko Jukić, Lucija Prusac, Domagoj Tončinić and Ivan Vidović A Fort on the Road – Andrej Janeš and Nikolina Vrančić An Island of Connectedness: Intra-Insular and Inter-Regional Communications of Rab Island (North-East Adriatic, Kvarner Gulf), Croatia – Ana Konestra, Paula Androić Gračanin and Fabian Welc The Roadside Station at Žuta Lokva – Ivana Ožanić Roguljić Petrijanec-Aqua Viva – Lovorka Štimac-Dedić The Unknown about the Known: The Možđenec-Sudovec Roman Road – Jere Drpić New Data, Old Town: The Case of Aquae Balissae – Andrej Janeš, Marina Matković Vrban and Ivana Hirschler Marić The Road from Mursa to the North: Segments of the Road in Remote Sensing Data – Mislav Fileš and Miroslav Vuković On the Road from Ad Herculem to Rittium (Segment Čortanovci-Surduk) – Biljana Lučić, Alessandro De Rosa, Sara Zanni, Gorana Lemajić, Sonja Štefanski-Zorić, Radoslav Muždeka and Uroš Nikolić Lifeline of the Frontier: The Road and Port Network and the Concept of Supply and Distribution in Moesia Superior – Nemanja Mrđić and Angelina Raičković Savić Signposts of Settlement: Roman Communications and Avar-Age Sites in Continental Croatia: Overlap Pattern Analysis – Lorena Jurakić and Pia Šmalcelj Novaković Small Items, Big Results – Anita Rapan Papeša

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the central and western parts of the region, this is the second in a series of five volumes that comprehensively document rock art in Upper Tibet. It examines a panoply of graphic evidence found on stone surfaces, supplying an unprecedented view of the long-term development of culture and religion on a large swathe of the Tibetan Plateau. The pictographs (rock paintings) and petroglyphs (rock carvings), host sites, and descriptions and analyses presented are the direct result of intensive fieldwork conducted by the author in Upper Tibet between 1995 and 2016. Information on rock art production techniques, subject identification, thematic class, mode of presentation, physical condition, estimated age, and relative location are supplied for each piece of rock art. In addition to the datasets, the book offers rock art site descriptions and assesses the cultural, religious and artistic development of these locations.

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Book SynopsisMOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) was commissioned by RPS Group PLC, on behalf of Morris Homes, to undertake archaeological work on land at Upton Park south of Weedon Road, Northampton. Two adjacent palaeochannels crossed the western extent of the site and are likely to have dated to the Pleistocene period. The earliest evidence of human activity consisted of a background scatter of Neolithic flint. The first feature was an isolated barrow that was established in the early Bronze Age. A later unurned cremation was cut into the backfill of the recut ditch and radiocarbon dated to the end of the early Bronze Age or the beginning of the middle Bronze Age. At least one isolated early Bronze Age pit was found in another part of the site. Parts of two late Bronze Age/early Iron Age sinuous pit alignments were recorded over nearly 0.5km within the site with c257 pits revealed. An estimated 66% of these pits by volume were examined. This is the first time in the county since Wollaston Quarry in the 1990s that pit alignments were seen over such a distance within a single planning application. The archaeological excavation of these has resulted in them being by some distance the two most examined pit alignments in the county, if not the region. Both had most likely fallen out of use by the early Iron Age, but a middle Iron Age date should not be ruled out. In the northern and southern pit alignments there were 16 and seven areas respectively where there were different variables in the pits such as circular or rectangular plan form (and some pit areas had be recut by ditches), which may suggest they had been constructed and maintained by different gangs/communities over probably hundreds of years. Relatively little detailed work has been recorded on this enigmatic feature type. The extensive work and examination of the two pit alignments at Upton has allowed a typology of the variable areas of pits (and related ditches) to be postulated. A detailed discussion has compared these features in a local, regional and national context. Future recommendations for excavation of pit alignments have been recorded. A Roman trackway lay within the western part of the development area and it was part of the routeway network located around the nearby Duston Roman town. Medieval drainage ditches and field systems relating to part of the medieval settlement of Upton lay within the eastern part of the development area.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Project background Location and topography Geological background by Steve Critchley Historical and archaeological background Archaeological investigations within and close to the site Objectives and methodology Site phasing Chapter 2 The archaeological evidence Period 1: Palaeochannel Period 2: Neolithic (c4000BC – 2500BC) Period 3: Early to early middle Bronze Age (c2500BC – 1500BC) Period 4: Late Bronze Age to early middle Iron Age (c1100BC – 400BC) Period 5: Roman (AD43 – AD400) Period 6: Medieval to post-medieval Period 7: Modern Chapter 3 Finds Worked Flint by Yvonne Wolframm-Murray Bronze Age pottery by Andy Chapman Iron Age and Roman pottery by Adam Sutton Post-Roman pottery by Jennifer R McNulty Small finds by Tora Hylton Radiocarbon dating Chapter 4 Human, faunal and environmental evidence Cremated human remains by Chris Chinnock Animal bone by Adam Reid Environmental analysis by Sander Aerts Chapter 5 Discussion Period 2: Neolithic (c4000BC – 2500BC) Period 3: Early to early/middle Bronze Age (c2500BC - 1100BC) Period 4: Late Bronze Age to early Iron Age pit alignments (c1100 – 400BC) Recommendations for excavation of pit alignments Period 5: Roman (AD43 – AD410) Bibliography

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Book SynopsisPortus, investigaciones geoarqueológicas en el muelle este-oeste collects the scientific results of the geoarchaeological project on the east-west pier of Portus (Rome) developed within the framework of the Archaeological Projects Abroad program of the Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte of the Kingdom of Spain, and also under a collaboration agreement between the University of Huelva and the Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica. Since 2017, without interruption until the present, various excavation and study campaigns have focused their efforts on the pier via an inter- and multidisciplinary methodology involving archaeologists, geologists, palaeobotanists and palaeontologists. Thus, excavation activities, geophysical prospecting, petrographic, archaeometric studies and architectural analysis have been developed, always with the application of new photogrammetric techniques and laser scanning, which have allowed us to obtain a significant volume of data. Its analysis and interpretation now gives the most extensive and up-to-date picture of one of the most interesting and extensive docks in Portus, with new contributions related to its chronology, with a building phase from thefourth century AD; its construction system, whose foundations have been determined; the surrounding paleoenvironment, with new data related to the silting process of the Claudio inlet; as well as the changes that occured in the transition to the Early Middle Ages, among others.

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Book SynopsisThis book outlines the results of the 2018 archaeological survey at Tawi Said, located on the edge of the Sharqiyah desert in the Sultanate of Oman. The surveyed area of 150 x 125 m yielded close to 8,600 artifacts, with pottery sherds comprising the majority of the finds. Additional discoveries include shells, lithic tools, copper production waste, jewellery and fragments of soft-stone vessels. Of particular interest are two stamp seals, one of which bears a resemblance to the seals of Dilmun style. Two significant phases are attested by the finds from Tawi Said: the Wadi Suq period (2000-1600 BCE) and the Late Islamic period (1650-1970 CE). Together with other discoveries, the Dilmun-inspired stamp seal illustrates the interconnectedness of Tawi Said in interregional exchange during the Wadi Suq period. The connectivity of the Late Islamic period is similarly evidenced by imported pottery, glass bangles and other artefacts. The absence of architectural remains suggests that Tawi S

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Book SynopsisArchaeology of Body and Thought explores what we as people can do with our bodies, what we can use them for, and how we can alter and understand them. It considers the ways in which individual human groups from the Neolithic to the Migration Period have perceived and treated the body. The analysis is based on artefacts found in graves, anthropomorphic images, and written sources, with an underlying assumption that principles of aesthetics or a canon of beauty express a way of understanding and evaluating corporality commonly adopted in a given culture. From this perspective, the human body is also an archaeological artefact and a specific kind of material culture (indeed, the most important one). The book investigates the extent to which ideology shapes our bodies and how our bodies create our world outlook. To that end, it compares bodies with other contemporary spheres of material culture and technology. Geographically, the study concentrates on central and eastern Europe

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Book SynopsisSince 2007, the conferences organized under the title Broadening Horizons' have provided a regular venue for postgraduates and early career scholars in Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Three volumes present the proceedings of the 6th Broadening Horizons Conference, which took place at the Freie Universität Berlin from 2428 June, 2019. The general theme, Bridging the Gap: Disciplines, Times, and Spaces in Dialogue', is aimed at encouraging communication and the development of multidisciplinary approaches to the study of material cultures and textual sources.The second volume compiles papers presented in three enlightening sessions: Session 3 Visual and Textual Forms of Communication; Session 7 The Future of the Past. Archaeologists and Historians in Cultural Heritage Studies; and Session 8 Produce, Consume, Repeat. History and Archaeology of Ancient Near Eastern Economies. Within this volume, the 20 papers traverse diverse topics spanning multiple periods, from the 5th millennium BCE to the Roman Empire, and encompass a wide array of geographical regions within the Near East.

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Book SynopsisSquare bottles came into use in the AD 60s and rapidly became the commonest glass vessel form in the empire. For the next two centuries their fragments dominate all glass assemblages. Hitherto this material has not been exploited to any great extent because there has been no close chronological framework.Blue/Green Glass Bottles from Roman Britain presents a classification scheme for the moulded base patterns which allows their chronological development to be reconstructed. With this it is possible to explore how sizes and capacities changed with time. The British data are set within the context of the bottles from the rest of the western empire, and it can be seen that different provinces favoured different base patterns in a systematic fashion. Previously it has been assumed that base patterns reflect long distance trade of the bottles and their contents. Now it can be seen that the main driving force for the distribution of bottles with similar distinct

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Book SynopsisDinámicas históricas, religiosas e iconográficas en el norte de África constitutes the third volume of the series Estudios sobre el África Romana, derived from a fruitful collaboration between the Complutense University of Madrid, the Université de la Manouba and the Institute National du Patrimoine de Tunis.This new publication brings together a varied collection of scientific works that focus their attention on cultural phenomena and historical issues concerning North Africa as a whole, with special interest in Africa Proconsularis. Therefore, other chronologies -and even other related geographies- are not disregarded, starting from prehistory, passing through the Punic and Hellenistic Greco-Roman world, sliding to the Late Antiquity and the pre-eminence of the Arab-Muslim culture, ending up in the contemporary perceptions and stereotypes that European colonialism generated on the autochthonous, and some allochthonous, African cultures. The diversity of

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Book SynopsisDžarkutan Nekropole 4A presents a catalogue of the Late Bronze Age necropolis of Džarkutan 4a in Southern Uzbekistan.Excavated in the 1970s, the graveyard contained 719 burials of the 20th-16th c. BC, of the so-called Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). Apart from the site of Gonur, this is the largest scientifically studied prehistoric necropolis of Central Asia. While some material has been discussed in earlier publications, the individual descriptions of the burials and a large part of the inventories are published here for the first time. For some 350 graves, ceramic drawings or photographs were pulled together from archives, museum collections and the excavators'' personal records. About 40% of the material originally excavated - and some 60% of the complete vessels excavated - could be assembled. The catalogue is preceded by a short introduction into the culture, history, and research history of the Late Bronze Age of Central Asia, and followed by a discus

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Book SynopsisThe inextricability of the connection between the Roman limes and the lands it ran through is easily observed and there is even a regularity to be noted: some modern borders actually follow the line of the ancient defenses. At the same time there are significant differences between particular sections of the limes, resulting primarily from the topography, climate and changing strategic importance. The Bulgarian section of the limes is a perfect illustration. For a considerable distance it follows the Danube, which is at the same time the border between Bulgaria and Romania. The landform the location of major settlements at convenient river crossings, natural barriers separating the region from tribal territories and the relatively hospitable region of the Balkans all contributed to making the region north of the Haemus mons suitable for Roman urban and rural settlement, agriculture and overland commerce. The Danube was always of foremost importance. A majo

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Book SynopsisA Map of the Body, a Map of the Mind is a study about the relationship between geography and power in the ancient Roman world, and most particularly about the visualisation of geographical knowledge in myriad forms of geography products, including geographical treatises, histories, poems, personifications, landscape representations, images of barbarian peoples, maps, itineraries, and imported foodstuffs. As Rome broke its political bounds and headed towards empire the whole city became the centre and the Roman world-view changed with it. The Roman state then needed to present to the Roman people an easily-digestible narrative about its imperial ambition and imperial possessions, in a way that went beyond the fact that servitude, enslavement, and misery for many underpinned this expansion. There needed to be a publicly-guided discourse centred around the smoothing out of difference, rather than its obliteration or elimination, and the presentation of many different lifeworld

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Book SynopsisIn AD 1071, the Byzantine Emperor, Romanos IV Diogenes, set out from Constantinople for the eastern borders of his Empire with an army described as more numerous than the sands of the sea. His military campaign culminated in defeat by the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan at the Battle of Mantzikert. This defeat was to have profound consequences for both Byzantine and Turkish history and is still commemorated in the modern state of Turkey. Yet the historical sources for this campaign contain significant gaps and we know more about the political intrigues surrounding the emperor than we do about how the army moved and fed itself.The Medieval Warfare on the Grid' project (2007-2011) was funded by an AHRC-EPSRC-Jisc e-Science grant and set out to use computer simulation to shed new light on the Mantzikert campaign. In this book we present the results of the project and demonstrate that computer simulation has an important role to play in the analysis of pre-modern military log

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Book SynopsisHarbours of Byzantium analyses physical harbour remains and their impact on the general development of architecture, economy and maritime connectivity in the Byzantine East. By focusing particularly on the archaeology of coastal sites, including the harbour infrastructures themselves, as well as associated facilities and affected landscapes, the individual contributions offer a representative picture of harbour activities across the Byzantine Empire geographically and chronologically. The papers set out to cover sites from every province, from Italy in the west to the Levantine coast in the east, and the Black Sea in the north to Egypt in the south. They present new material and data with which to understand the development of harbour networks in relation to maritime landscapes, and thereby provide a general overview of various aspects of Byzantine coastal life and a basis for future comparative research in Byzantine harbour studies on a local, regional, and supra-regional

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Book SynopsisVol. 21 of Antiguo Oriente for 2023. AntOr is the annual, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal published by the Center of Studies of Ancient Near Eastern History (CEHAO). The journal publishes manuscripts related to the history of societies of the Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Paleolithic to the Early Islamic Period.

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Book SynopsisA historical and prosopographical study of the Romans who held the military rank of tribune and served between the 1st century BC and the 3rd century AD, presented across three volumes. This volume (I) presents a catalogue of 285 Romans, divided into Tribuni militum in exercitu and Tribuni militum in praetorio.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE FRANK WATSON BOOK PRIZE 2021. SHORTLISTED IN SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2021 The first full-scale, interdisciplinary treatment of the wide-ranging connections between the Gaelic world and the Northumbrian kingdom. Northumbria was the most northerly Anglo-Saxon kingdom; its impressive landscape featured two sweeping coastlines, which opened the area to a variety of cultural connections. This book explores influences that emanated from the Gaelic-speaking world, including Ireland, the Isle of Man, Argyll and the kingdom of Alba (the nascent Scottish kingdom). It encompasses Northumbria's "Golden Age", the kingdom's political and scholarly high-point of the seventh and early eighth centuries, and culminates with the kingdom's decline and fragmentation in the Viking Age, which opened up new links with Gaelic-Scandinavian communities. Political and ecclesiastical connections are discussed in detail; the study also covers linguistic contact, material culture and the practicalities of travel, bringing out the realities of contemporary life. This interdisciplinary approach sheds new light on the west and north of the Northumbrian kingdom, the areas linked most closely with the Gaelic world. Overall, the book reveals the extent to which Gaelic influence was multi-faceted, complex and enduring. Dr FIONA EDMONDS is Reader in History and Director of the Regional Heritage Centre at Lancaster University.Trade ReviewEdmonds brings to this book extensive knowledge of the wider Gaelic world throughout the period covered, and expertise across a range of sources which are often difficult to deal with. * EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE *[A] serious and substantial piece of scholarship and will prove to be an indispensable resource for many specialists studying medieval Irish and British history. -- Meredith D. Cutrer * Comitatus *[An] impressively wide-ranging work. -- SCOTTISH HISTORICAL REVIEW[A] useful and fascinating work that sheds light not only on early medieval Northumbria but also on the contemporary Irish Sea region as a whole. Those who study these subjects should, and undoubtedly will, make reference to her book in their own writings. -- INNES REVIEW[An] authoritative, must read work. -- CWAAS NEWSLETTERThis is an invaluable book, and will be important for all scholars interested in interactions between Ireland and Northumbria during the early medieval period up to the eleventh century, and for those interested more broadly in applying interdisciplinary approaches to interactions between different peoples in the medieval world. -- NORTHERN HISTORY[An] incredibly useful and long overdue work -- CAMBRIAN MEDIEVAL CELTIC STUDIESEdmonds has succeeded in presenting an engaging and dynamic answer to the question of Gaelic influence in the Northumbrian kingdom, within an innovative interdisciplinary framework. * JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES *[A] significant work, which will, without a doubt, serve to inspire future studies on intercultural influence both within and beyond the bounds of the Northumbrian kingdom. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *This book is going to be essential reading for early medieval insular scholars for many years to come. * IRISH HISTORICAL STUDIES *[A] valuable new book. . . . Edmonds has committed herself to a thoroughly interdisciplinary approach and demonstrated the possibilities open to those willing to seek out alternative material. -- Patrick Wadden * Speculum *Table of ContentsPreface: An Eventful Voyage Concepts and Historiography of the Northumbrian and Gaelic Worlds: Medieval to Modern Exiles and Emperors: Gaelic-Northumbrian Political Relations in the Golden Age Fragmentation and Opportunity: From the Eighth Century to the Viking Age Pathways through the Past: Routes between the Gaelic World and the Northumbrian Kingdom A Golden Age of Ecclesiastical Contacts Saints and Seaways in the Viking Age Medieval Multilingualism: Gaelic Linguistic Influence in the Northumbrian Kingdom Movement and Material Culture in the Northumbrian and Gaelic Worlds Conclusion: Individuals and Influences

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Book SynopsisThis book offers the first comprehensive picture of the medieval archaeology of the Czech Lands available in English. Alongside assembling the main topics of current archaeological research, it establishes the key issues in its methodology. Topics covered explore both rural and urban contexts, secular power structures, and monastic houses and parish churches. Besides flagship urban archaeology surveys in Prague and Brno (the Moravian metropolis), unique in Europe is the excavation of the suburb of the town of Sezimovo Usti which ceased to exist in 1420, and the complex castle excavations at Lelekovice and Rokstejn. In the landscape, important data come from the surveys of deserted villages and manorial farms. Special attention is given to technology, crafts, industry (including mining and glass production), housing culture and daily life across the various social strata. One of the fascinating features is the artefactual presentation of two competing religions - Catholicism and Utraquism; and new insights are made of Jewish everyday life, and the story of the Anabaptists and their Central European crafts heritage.Key sites, structures and finds are illustrated as the author ventures on an archaeological journey through the medieval Czech Kingdom. A particular focus of this book is the position of the Czech Lands between the gradual process of medieval transformation (13th century) and early modern transition (16th century). Throughout, the book is illustrated with images rarely seen in the wider European context.Trade Review"Well written and richly illustrated. This book will offer a new and unique opportunity for an international audience to engage with the medieval archaeology of Europe from a more holistic perspective." - Dr. Hajnalka Herold, Department of Archaeology, University of ExeterTable of Contents1. Introduction2. The Rural Milieu3. Secular Power4. Churches, Monasteries and Cemeteries5. Urban Settlement6. Domestic Features: Heat and Light7. Technology, Craft and Industry8. Artefacts, Communication and Symbols9. Medieval Archaeology: Present and Future

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Book SynopsisThe D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 were the culmination of months of meticulous planning and organisation. A vast army had to be trained and equipped; huge amounts of material – from tin cans to tank transporters, petrol to parachutes – had to be stockpiled, distributed and readied for transport to the beaches of Normandy; bombing missions had to reduce the enemy; fighters, minesweepers and other naval missions had to clear the English Channel; and, finally, the men had to embark and the armada had to deliver its cargo to a strict timetable under enemy fire onto a hostile shore. For understandable reasons, the emphasis on remembrance of D-Day is focused on the beaches: that’s where the battles took place; that’s where most of the casualties occurred; that’s where the remarkable stories were written in blood, sand and shingle. We should never forget the sacrifice of those who fell, but equally we shouldn’t forget the sacrifices of those who prepared the way. The hundred locations chosen for this book are a small collection of those places in Britain that were involved in the preparations for D-Day. It would have been easy to choose a hundred others: few parts of Britain were not part of the war effort. It is perhaps best to see the chosen 100 as starting points from which the reader can discover the considerable depth of involvement required to launch the great invasion. Trade Review'D-Day UK offers an excellent addition to our understanding of the circumstances that led up to the Normandy landings and of many of the locations north of the English Channel that contributed to the success of the invasion. Very reasonably priced for such a well-illustrated volume, this book will appeal to a wide readership.' Hugh Clout, Cercles: An Interdisciplinary Journal of English StudiesTable of Contents1. Command & Control 2. Practice Makes Perfect 3. Logistical Challenges 4. All Aboard 5. Air Operations 6. Sea operations

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Book SynopsisNo satisfactory explanation has been given for the burial of a large Saxon gold hoard found in Hammerwich, Staffordshire in 2009. Speculation on who buried the treasure has led to many ideas based on battles, warriors and plundering kings. An alternative vision is given with greater emphasis placed on the religious items, the early church at Lichfield and the amassing of artwork in religious houses from the seventh century onwards. The Christian pieces are explained in new ways and the gold is discussed from the point of view of a Churl, Monk, Bishop, Warrior and King. An argument is presented based on available evidence to suggest why the hoard was buried and who possibly might have buried the precious items in despair. Archaeology, local history, Saxon beliefs and historical events are brought together to give a new way of seeing the Staffordshire Hoard.

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Book SynopsisThe collection of 28 Ogam stones at UCC represents the largest collection of Ogam inscriptions on open display in Ireland. In this guide Damian McManus places the stones in their literary, linguistic and archaeological context, and discusses the origins of Ogam, its distribution, execution and significance. The origins of the UCC collection are discussed, the provenance of each stone outlined and each inscription is described and carefully considered. The last detailed study of this collection, The Ogham Stones, University College, Cork by Rev. Patrick Power was published in 1932. Damian McManus now presents a new reading of the inscriptions in light of the research conducted in the intervening years. The Ogam Stones at University College Cork will be an invaluable guide for students, scholars and all those interested in Irish heritage.

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Book SynopsisBir Umm Fawakhir is a fifth-sixth century AD Coptic/Byzantine gold-mining town located in the central Eastern Desert of Egypt. The Bir Umm Fawakhir Project of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago carried out four seasons of archaeological survey at the site, in 1992, 1993, 1996, and 1997; one season of excavation in 1999; and one study season in 2001. This volume is the final report on the 1996 and 1997 seasons. The goals of the 1996 and 1997 field seasons were to complete the detailed map of the main settlement, to continue the investigation of the outlying clusters of ruins or "Outliers" and to address some specific questions such as the ancient gold-extraction process. The completion of these goals makes the main settlement at Bir Umm Fawakhir one of the only completely mapped towns of the period in Egypt. Not only is the main settlement plotted room for room and door for door but also features such as guardposts, cemeteries, paths, roads, wells, outlying clusters of ruins and mines are known and some of these are features not always readily detectable archaeologically. This volume presents the pre-Coptic material; a detailed discussion of the remains in the main settlement, outliers and cemeteries; the Coptic/Byzantine pottery, small finds and dipinti; as well as a study of ancient mining techniques.

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Book SynopsisWhat is the difference between a Bell Barrow and a Saucer Barrow? Which henge between Stonehenge and Avebury is bigger than both? How many thousand spectators fit into the Silchester amphitheatre? In this fascinating book, packed with rare illustrations and antique engravings, local historian Gerald Ponting takes us on a tour of the ancient kingdom of Wessex, revealing a tapestry of earthworks, some Neolithic, others Iron Age or Roman, many of which survive today. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

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Book SynopsisThis volume, originally published by Cambridge University Press and now reprinted by Archaeopress, is an essential research tool for scholars studying the Jewish Aramaic translations of the Bible. It provides a description for every Targum manuscript in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 1600 fragments in all, from every targumic genre and type, ranging in date from the earliest known manuscripts of the Palestinian Targum to late Yemenite versions of Onqelos, including a great many previously unidentified manuscripts. The late Michael Klein, who died in 2000, was the leading authority on the targumic manuscripts in the Genizah. Reviews of the first edition:‘[a] magnificent volume, absolutely indispensable for all who are interested in targumic literature’ (F. García Martínez, Journal for the Study of Judaism 24 (1993)) Originally published by C.U.P.

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Book SynopsisThe landscape of Fort Hood, in central Texas, presents archaeologists and cultural resource managers with some of their most exacting but absorbing challenges. That much is clear from the activities of the many archaeologists and heritage managers who have sought to use the extensive cultural database and unique landscape of the base as a test bed for research and management methodologies. This project, carried out as an international collaboration between the Fort Hood Cultural Resource Management Team and the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity (University of Birmingham, UK), sought to provide a novel application of historic landscape characterisation (HLC) methodologies at the base. For decades, the effective stewardship and management of cultural resources at Fort Hood, Texas, has proven to be a formidable challenge. Balancing this responsibility with the Army mission at Fort Hood, which includes ongoing intensive mechanized training across a 217,000-acre military reservation, has tested the abilities of even the most capable of cultural resource managers. The identification of over 2,000 archaeological sites on the installation, while a great accomplishment, pales in comparison to the demands of determining site significance. Now, with this innovative historic landscape characterization study, the authors have presented us with an extraordinary opportunity to view these resources within the context of a cultural landscape that systematically considers the multiple roles of Fort Hood. It is hoped that this will facilitate the move from significance determinations that are site-specific to ones based upon, as the authors state, the concepts of group value and spatial relationships at a landscape level. The accompanying CD (displaying selected data layers provided as Google Earth layers) assists readers in viewing and interpreting the data and the value of HLC procedures and output for the purposes of heritage management. Contents: 1. The Origins and Aims of the Fort Hood Historic Landscape Characterisation Project; 2) Approaches to historic landscape characterisation; 3) Fort Hood in Context; 4) The Fort Hood archaeological database; 5) The historic landscape characterisation project.

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Book SynopsisThis volume presents a range of petrographic case studies as applied to archaeological problems, primarily in the field of pottery analysis, i.e. ceramic petrography. Petrographic analysis involves using polarising optical microscopy to examine microstructures and the compositions of rock and mineral inclusions in thin section, and has become a widely used technique within archaeological science. The results of these analyses are commonly embedded in regionally specific reports and research papers. In this volume, however, the analytical method takes centre stage and the common theme is its application in different archaeological contexts.Table of Contents1) Henry Clifton Sorby (1826-1908) and the development of thin section petrography in Sheffield (Noel Worley) ; 2) The provenance potential of igneous glacial erratics in Anglo-Saxon ceramics from northern England (Rob Ixer & Alan Vince) ; 3) Technological insights into bell-beakers: a case study from the Mondego Plateau, Portugal (Ana Jorge) ; 4) Indigenous tableware production during the archaic period in western Sicily: new results from petrographic analysis (Giuseppe Montana, Anna Maria Polito & Ioannis Iliopoulos) ; 5) Petrographic & microstratigraphic analysis of mortar-based building materials from the temple of Venus, Pompeii (Rebecca Piovesan, Emmanuele Curti, Celestino Grifa, Lara Maritan & Claudio Mazzoli ; 6) Provenance & production technology of Early Bronze Age pottery from a lake-dwelling settlement at Arquà Petrarca, Padova, Italy (Lara Maritan, Claudio Mazzoli, Marta Tenconi, Giovanni Leonardi & Stefano Boaro) ; 7) Ceramic technology & social process in late neolithic Hungary (Attila Kreiter, György Szakmány & Miklós Kázmér ; 8) Early pottery technology & the formation of a technological tradition: the case of Theopetra Cave, Thessaly, Greece (Areti Pentedeka & Anastasia Dimoula) ; 9) Fine-grained Middle Bronze Age polychrome ware from Crete: combining petrographic & microstructural analysis (Edward W. Faber, Peter M. Day & Vassilis Kilikoglou ; 10) Pottery technology and regional exchange in Early Iron Age Crete (Marie-Claude Boileau, Anna Lucia d’Agata & James Whitley ; 11) The movement of Middle Bronze Age transport jars a provenance study based on petrographic and chemical analysis of Canaanite jars from Memphis, Egypt (Mary Ownby & Janine Bourriau) ; 12) Petrographic analysis of EB iii ceramics from Tall al-‘Umayri, Jordan: a re-evaluation of levels of production (Stanley Klassen) ; 13) Comparison of volcaniclastic-tempered Inca imperial ceramics from Paria, Bolivia with potential sources (Veronika Szilágyi & György Szakmány) ; 14) Multi-village specialized craft production & the distribution of Hokoham sedentary period pottery, Tuscon, Arizona (James M. Heidke) ; 15) A preliminary evaluation of the Verde confederacy model: testing expectations of pottery exchange in the central Arizona highlands (Sophia E. Kelly, David R. Abbott, Gordon Moore, Christopher Watkins & Caitlin Wichlacz) ; 16) Ceramic petrography & the reconstruction of hunter-gatherer craft technology in Late Prehistoric Southern California (Patrick Quinn & Margie Burton)

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Book SynopsisContents: Introduction: The development of Arabic as a written language (Christian Julien Robin); Ancient Arabia and the written word (M.C.A. Macdonald); Mount Nebo, Jabal Ramm, and the status of Christian Palestinian Aramaic and Old Arabic in Late Roman Palestine and Arabia (Robert Hoyland); A glimpse of the development of the Nabataean script into Arabic based on old and new epigraphic material (Laïla Nehmé); The evolution of the Arabic script in the period of the Prophet MuΉammad and the Orthodox Caliphs in the light of new inscriptions discovered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (‘Alī Ibrāhīm Al-Ghabbān); In search of a standard: dialect variation and New Arabic features in the oldest Arabic written documents (Pierre Larcher); The codex Parisino-petropolitanus and the Ήijāzī scripts (François Déroche); The relationship of literacy and memory in the second/eighth century (Gregor Schoeler); The Use of the Arabic script in magic (Venetia Porter); The Old Arabic graffito at Jabal Usays: A new reading of line 1 (M.C.A. Macdonald).

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Book Synopsis“At last we reached a circular enclosure among the grass and scanty trees. We rushed in and it was like getting into a tropical greenhouse with the roof off. There were tall trees and long creepers making monkey ropes, large flowers hanging, great cactus trees, aloes and all sorts of beautiful things crowded together, so that one could hardly squeeze through. I should have liked to stop and stare at the vegetation but on we rushed, over walls and to the tower we had heard of, which is close to the outer wall. We did not stay even to walk round the tower but out we rushed again, like people who were taking a stolen look into an enchanted garden and were afraid of being bewitched if we remained… It was quite dark and we had to be guided by shouts to our camp and got home in a state of great wonder and delight and hope of profitable work and full assurance of the great antiquity of the ruins. Theodore was not very well and had to take quinine.” [M.V.A. Bent, 4 June 1891] Thus a few lines from Mabel (Mrs J. Theodore) Bent’s 1891 African travel diary on her arrival at ‘Great Zimbabwe’ (in present-day Zimbabwe), written for her family, serve to evoke the romance and hardships of colonial exploration for a Victorian audience. Of particular importance are Mabel’s previously unpublished notebooks covering the couple’s arduous wagon trek to these famous ruins, in part sponsored by the ambitious Cecil Rhodes. Theodore Bent’s interpretations of these wonderful monuments sparked a controversy (one of several this maverick archaeologist was involved in over his short career) that still divides scholars today. Mabel Bent was probably the first woman to visit there and help document this major site. As tourists in Egypt and explorers in the Sudan, Ethiopia, and Southern Africa, anyone interested in 19th-century travel will want to follow the wagon tracks and horse trails of the Bents across hundreds of miles of untouched African landscape. Contents: Personal diaries, travel accounts and letters relating to the Bents’ travels and explorations in: Egypt (1885); Zimbabwe (1891); Ethiopia (1893); Sudan (1896); Egypt (1898). Includes extended contributions on the archaeological background to ‘Great Zimbabwe’ by Innocent Pikirayi, and ‘The Stone Birds of Great Zimbabwe’ by William J. Dewey. Additional documents, maps, and Mabel Bent’s own photographs contribute to this important insight into the lives of two of the great British travellers of the nineteenth century. The Travel Chronicles of Mrs J. Theodore Bent. Mabel Bent's diaries of 1883-1898, from the archive of the Joint Library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies, London. Published in three volumes: Volume I – Greece and the Levantine Littoral (2006); Volume II: The African Journeys (2012); Vol III – Southern Arabia and Persia (2010). "...Brisch and Archaeopress have done a major service by reproducing these hidden gems and rescuing Mabel Bent from relative obscurity. This collection is a valuable primary source and will be of immense interest to those interested in female travelogues, historical archaeology, or the daily experiences of European women in colonial Africa." (Reviewed in 'Journal of African History', Vol. 55/2, 2014, 296-298)

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Book SynopsisProceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 41 2011, Papers from the forty-fourth meeting, held at the British Museum, London, 22–24 July 2010. Contents: 1) Some observations on women in Omani sources (Olga Andriyanova); 2) Archaeological landscape characterization in Qatar through satellite and aerial photographic analysis, 2009 to 2010 (Paul Breeze, Richard Cuttler & Paul Collins); 3) Fishing kit implements from KHB-1: net sinkers and lures (poster) (Fabio Cavulli & Simona Scaruffi); 4) The distribution of storage and diversion dams in the western mountains of South Arabia during the Himyarite period (Julien Charbonnier); 5) Assessing the value of palaeoenvironmental data and geomorphological processes for understanding Late Quaternary population dynamics in Qatar (Richard Cuttler, Emma Tetlow & Faisal al-Naimi); 6) Les fortifications de Khor Rorī – ‘Sumhuram’ (poster) (Christian Darles); 7) Places of contact, spheres of interaction. The Ubaid phenomenon in the central Gulf area as seen from a first season of reinvestigations at Dosariyah (Dawsāriyyah), Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia (Philipp Drechsler0; 8) khushub musannadah (Qurān 63. 4) and Epigraphic South Arabian ms3nd (Orhan Elmaz); 9) Walled structures and settlement patterns in the south-western part of Dhofar, Oman (poster) (Roman Garba & Peter Farrington);10) The wall and talus at Barāqish, ancient Yathill (al-Jawf, Yemen): a Minaean stratigraphy (Francesco G. Fedele); 11) Through evangelizing eyes: American missionaries to Oman (Hilal al-Hajri); 12) Quantified analysis of long-term settlement trends in the northern Oman peninsula (Nasser Said al-Jahwari); 13) Yeha and Hawelti: cultural contacts between Saba and DMT – New research by the German Archaeological Institute in Ethiopia (Sarah Japp, Iris Gerlach, Holger Hitgen & Mike Schnelle); 14) The Kadhima Project: investigating an Early Islamic settlement and landscape on Kuwait Bay (poster) (Derek Kennet, Andrew Blair, Brian Ulrich & Sultan M. al-Duwīsh); 15) Typology of incense-burners of the Islamic period (Sterenn Le Maguer); 16) A geomorphological and hydrological underpinning for archaeological research in northern Qatar (Phillip G. Macumber); 17) Recent investigations at the prehistoric site RH-5 (Ras al-Hamrā, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman) (Lapo Gianni Marcucci, Francesco Genchi, Émilie Badel & Maurizio Tosi); 18) Geoarchaeological investigations at the site of Julfār (al-Nudūd and al-Matāf), Ras al-Khaymah, UAE: preliminary results from the auger-hole survey (poster) (Mike Morley, Robert Carter & Christian Velde); 19) Conserving and contextualizing national cultural heritage: the 3-D digitization of the fort at al-Zubārah and petroglyphs at Jabal al-Jusāsiyyah, Qatar (poster) (Helen Moulden, Richard Cuttler & Shane Kelleher); 20) Reassessing Wādī Debayan (Wādī al-Dabayān): an important Early Holocene Neolithic multi-occupational site in western Qatar (poster) (Faisal al-Naimi, Kathryn M. Price, Richard Cuttler & Hatem Arrock); 21) Research on an Islamic period settlement at Ras Ushayriq in northern Qatar and some observations on the occurrence of date presses (Andrew Petersen); 22) Relations between southern Arabia and the northern Horn of Africa during the last millennium BC (David W. Phillipson); 23) Bayt Bin Ātī in the Qattārah oasis: a prehistoric industrial site and the formation of the oasis landscape of al-Ain, UAE (Timothy Power & Peter Sheehan); 24) The Sabaic inscription A–20–216: a new Sabaean-Seleucid synchronism (Alessia Prioletta); 25) Al-Suwaydirah (old al-Taraf) and its Early Islamic inscriptions (Saad bin Abdulaziz al-Rashid); 26) Investigations in al-Zubārah hinterland at Murayr and al-Furayhah, north-west Qatar (poster) (Gareth Rees, Tobias Richter & Alan Walmsley); 27) Pearl fishers, townsfolk, Bedouin, and shaykhs: economic and social relations in Islamic al-Zubārah (Tobias Richter, Paul Wordsworth & Alan Walmsley); 28) Contemporary tribal versions of local history in Hadramawt (Mikhail Rodionov); 29) A view of the defence strategy of Muharraq, a tribal town in the Gulf (poster); 30) Solaiman Abd al-Rahmān al-Theeb, New Nabataean inscriptions from the site of al-Sīj in the region of al-Ulā, Saudi Arabia (Abdulla Al-Sulaiti); 31) Al-Zubārah Archaeological Park as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site – a master plan for its site management, preservation, and presentation (poster) (Ingolf Thuesen & Moritz Kinzel); 32) Oman and Bahrain in Late Antiquity: the Sasanians’ Arabian periphery (Brian Ulrich); 33) From the port of Mocha to the eighteenth-century tomb of Imām al-Mahdī MuΉammad in al-Mawāhib: locating architectural icons and migratory craftsmen (Nancy Um); 34) Drummers of the Najd: musical practices from Wādī al-Dawāsir, Saudi Arabia (Lisa Urkevich); 35) The Jewel of Muscat Project: reconstructing an early ninth-century CE Shipwreck (Tom Vosmer, Luca Belfioretti, Eric Staples & Alessandro Ghidoni); 36) Lateral fricatives and lateral emphatics in southern Saudi Arabia and Mehri (Janet C.E. Watson & Munira Al-Azraqi).

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Book SynopsisIf the real Wessex, with its counties, towns, villages and topography, was no mere readily available template upon which Hardy could carve a fictional pattern, Dorchester provided a very different model, though at the level of local colour and detail, Casterbridge really is Dorchester 'by any other name.'' In this study, Martin Davies examines the role which Thomas Hardy’s involvement with the past plays in his life and literary work. Hardy’s life encompasses the transformation of archaeology out of mere antiquarianism into a fully scientific discipline. Hardy – once described as ‘a born archaeologist’ – observed this process at first hand, and its impact on his aesthetic and philosophical scheme was profound. Dr Davies’ study offers a different route to a fuller understanding of Hardy’s novels, poems, and short stories. How much was Hardy concerned with archaeology per se amongst his plethora of interests? How much did he actually know about it? Did his Classical education, architectural training, and visit to Italy impinge on his perception of the mysterious traces of British prehistory and the Roman occupation with which he had grown up? How does reference to archaeology fit in with his overall narrative, aesthetic, and philosophical scheme? These are the questions posed by Martin Davies in his study of the role played by archaeology and the past in the life and works of Thomas Hardy. The answers are far reaching and profound.Table of ContentsPreface ; Chapter One: Introduction: Perspectives on the Past ; Chapter Two: Ancient Inspiration from the Science of the Imagination: Hardy, Archaeology, and Wessex (a Name Revived) ; Chapter Three: Novelist and ‘Born Archaeologist’: Hardy’s Personal Writings ; Chapter Four: Hardy’s Roman Town: The Setting for The Mayor of Casterbridge ; Chapter Five: Ancient and Modern Collide: Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Stonehenge ; Chapter Six: Barrows and Beyond: Landscapes of the Past ; Chapter Seven: Personal Memories and Ancient Remains: The Poetry ; Chapter Eight: Beyond Wessex: Architecture and Ideas in Oxford and Cornwall ; Bibliography ; Index of People and Places

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Book SynopsisThe portico is one of the most characteristic and significant features of western architecture and, yet, perhaps, also one of the least closely observed. Redolent of Antiquity and comprising the essential vocabulary of classical architecture in the form of the orders – columns, entablatures and, usually, pediments – it evokes past glories and epitomizes the modular system of design that is central to that architecture. It has often played a key role in, or acted as a barometer of, stylistic innovations. Used widely in Antiquity, especially in temples, the portico suffered a decline following the dissolution of Roman imperial authority in the West. However, sufficient literary and physical remains survived which, when viewed in particular ways, enabled it to regain a central position in architecture, following the Renaissance. Revived in Italy, it was subsequently adopted elsewhere in Europe and eventually in this country, and it is to the tentative introduction of the portico to Britain in the early seventeenth century, its widespread use throughout the eighteenth and much of the nineteenth centuries, and the beginning of its decline towards the end of our period, that this study is devoted.Table of ContentsPreface ; I The Portico ; 1 Introduction ; 2 Definitions ; 3 Summary and Note on Portico Types ; II From Frontispiece to Portico in Great Britain ; 1 Introduction ; 2 Frontispieces ; 3 Porches and Loggia Porticoes ; 4 Summary ; III Inigo Jones and the Palladian Portico ; 1 Introduction ; 2 Temple and Church ; 3 Summary ; IV The Baroque Portico ; 1 Jones, Webb, and the Baroque ; 2 Webb, Wren and the Baroque Church ; 3 Hawksmoor, Vanbrugh and Archer ; 4 Fifty New Churches ; 5 Temple Front and Portico in the English Baroque ; 6 Summary ; V The Portico in English Neo-Palladianism ; 1 Introduction ; 2 The Reinstatement of Inigo Jones and Palladio ; 3 Palladio and Porticoes ; 4 The English Country House and its Functions ; 5 The Disadvantages of Porticoes ; 6 Summary ; VI Neo-Classicism and the Greek Revival Portico ; 1 Introduction ; 2 Neo-Classicism: Imitation and Originality ; 3 Visual Effect: The Rule and the Eye ; 4 Architectural Association ; 5 The Associations of Grecian and Greek Architecture ; 6 The Greek Revival: A Tentative Beginning ; 7 The Greek and Roman Debate ; 8 Greece Revived ; VII The Decline of the Portico ; VIII Conclusion ; Appendix: Summary and Chronologies of the First Introductions and Principal Uses of the Architectural Orders in the Entrance-Porticoes of Great Britain, 1630-1850 ; Bibliography ; Plates ; Index

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Book SynopsisThis book stems from the results of an interdisciplinary European Union supported research project, WreckProtect, which investigated the decay and preservation of wooden shipwrecks under water in the Baltic Sea. It is not limited to the decay of wrecks in the Baltic alone and is aimed at all stakeholders with a vested interest in the protection of the underwater cultural heritage including marine archaeologists, conservators, engineers, and students in related fields at universities around the world. The book includes chapters on the anatomy and structure of wood and the physical and biological decay of shipwrecks under water. Well-known shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea are introduced, focusing upon their state of preservation and are compared to finds typically found in the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Microbial decay processes and their identification in both sediments and the water column are also discussed and related to other natural decay processes, as well as human impacts. Finally, a summary of available methods for the in-situ protection of wrecks is presented and a cost-benefit analysis of in-situ preservation versus conventional raising and conservation is given.Table of Contents1) Introduction ; 2) The Baltic Sea: a unique resource of underwater cultural heritage ; 3) Other European waters ; 4) The Baltic Sea environment ; 5) Wood as material ; 6) Wood degraders in the Baltic Sea ; 7) The decay process of shipwreck timbers in the Baltic ; 8) Spread of shipworm into the Baltic ; 9) In-situ preservation of a wreck site ; 10) Future research.

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Book SynopsisSince the discovery of Britain’s first Ice Age cave art in 2003, the site of Creswell Crags has gained international recognition as one of Britain’s leading Ice Age sites. For the first time the history of the site is brought together in one accessible volume. Documenting the early fieldwork at the site it uncovers antiquarian discoveries such as the famous horse engraving, excavations in the 1920s that saw our understanding of our early ancestors take shape, discusses the demise of the Neanderthals and the emergence of Modern Man, and looks at how Creswell Crags grew as a heritage attraction of potential World Heritage Status. In Beyond the Ice, Matthew Beresford examines how our ancestors lived, how they hunted, examines the tools and weapons they made and, most importantly, what they left behind. The book also challenges the term ‘Creswellian’, an isolated British culture that occupied the fringe lands of western Europe, and instead offers hard evidence for viewing Creswell Crags and its inhabitants as being part of a vast Ice Age world. Finally, it looks at what happened right at the end of the last Ice Age and examines what the changes in climate and landscape meant to our early ancestors. Beyond the Ice will appeal as much to the general reader as it will to the student or scholar, as it raises fundamental questions and offers up interpretations that apply to us all.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Chapter One: Antiquarian interest & early fieldwork ; Chapter Two: Armstrong’s research and interpretations ; Chapter Three: Discovery of the rock art at Church Hole Cave, Creswell Crags and its wider implications ; Chapter Four: Challenging the Creswellian: The way forward ; Chapter Five: The development of Creswell as a heritage site: a 21st century perspective ; Chapter Six: Neanderthals and Moderns: the search for Creswell Man ; Chapter Seven: Final Remarks ; Chapter Eight: Conclusion ; Appendix ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe author’s original aim in writing this book was to chronicle the story of a very specific debate in human evolutionary studies that took place between the late 1880s and the 1930s – the ‘eolith’ debate that had to do with small, natural stones whose shape and edges suggested to our earliest ancestors their use as tools, either as they were, or with a small amount of chipping to the stone’s edge, a process called ‘retouch’. These were the most primitive of tools, thought to date to the very beginning of human cultural evolution, and therefore suited to our very earliest ancestors. The more the author researched this topic the more he realised that its explanation was rooted in a number of research questions which today are considered separate subjects, and, gradually, a book that was to be about a forgotten Palaeolithic debate became a book that was just as much about ‘Morlocks’, stone tools, racial difference, and the Anthropological Society of London. The major themes of this study include: Apart from interconnectivity itself, the development of Palaeolithic archaeology, its relationship with the study of human physical anthropology in Britain and, to a much lesser extent, on the Continent; The links between these and the study of race and racial origins; The question of human origins itself; The link with geological developments in climate and glacial studies; The public perception of the whole ‘origins’ question and its relationship with ‘race’; How the public got its information on origins-related questions, and in what form this was presented to them; a review of the opening phase of the eolith debate (1889-1895/6) as a logical extension of developments in a number of these areas (e.g. Victorian science fiction). This fascinating book incorporates original research with synthesis and overview, and at the same time presents original perspectives derived from the author’s overall arrangement of the material. While the targeted readership includes postgraduates and third-year undergraduates, the work is very much intended as accessible to the non-academic reader wanting to know more about a subject that (re)touches on everyone.

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