History Books

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis publication presents the results of the archaeological studies relative to the settlement pattern, realized between 1983 and 1996 within the framework of the Michoacán Projects I and III led by the researchers of the Centre of Mexican and Centro-American studies (CEMCA). The Michoacán project (1983-1987) aimed at the realization of a study of all the perceptible demonstrations of the prehispanic occupations in the region. After the first three field’s seasons of the year 1983, dedicated essentially to survey and test pits, we directed all our efforts to the resolution of more specific objectives, the main objective being the settlement patterns study of the very numerous postclassical sites of the south region of the Project, located in the Tarascan Sierra and Malpais of Zacapu. The excavations directly connected to this subject were made in 1984 and 1985, but various test pits and surveys realized between 1983 and 1986 brought very useful data for the study. The author presented a doctoral thesis sustained in January 1991, in Paris I University on “The sites and residential and civic-ceremonial structures of the region of Zacapu, during the Postclassic”. This thesis constituted the first synthesis in French on this subject. As a consequence of the criticisms emitted during the defense of this thesis, and of insufficient data concerning the Early Postclassic occupation of the Zacapu Region, the Michoacán III (1993-1996) project was established. Both main purposes of this Project were the study of the transition between the Palacio phase (900-1200) and the Milpillas phase (1200-1450) as well as the systematic recording of sites and various structures of these sites localized in the Zacapu Malpais and dated from the Milpillas phase. This publication will present mainly the results of the surveys, surface collections and test-pits and allow inferences on the settlement patterns of the region of Zacapu and particularly the rapid growth in the Malpais of Zacapu of large sites at the beginning of Postclassic.Table of ContentsCapítulo 1: Contexto general; Capítulo 2: Localización, jerarquización de los sitios según los datos etnohistóricos del siglo XVI; Capítulo 3: Las investigaciones arqueológicas en torno a los sitios; Capítulo 4 - Cronología Cerámica (con la Contribución de Dominique Michelet); Capítulo 5: Tipología de los sitios, evolución del poblamiento del Clásico al Posclásico temprano, estructura del habitat y estimaciones de población en el Posclásico tardío; Capítulo 6: El surgimiento de la entidad tarasca Posclásica; BIBLIOGRAFIA; GLOSARIO DE TÉRMINOS TARASCOS (O PURÉPECHAS) Y NAHUATL

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe remarkable story of the money sent by the Choctaw to the Irish in 1847 is one that is often told and remembered by people in both nations. This gift was sent to the Irish from the Choctaw at the height of the Great Irish Famine, just sixteen years after the Choctaw began their march on the Trail of Tears toward the areas west of the Mississippi River. Famine Pots honours that extraordinary gift and provides further context about and consideration of this powerful symbol of cross-cultural synergy through a collection of essays and poems that speak volumes of the empathy and connectivity between the two communities. As well as signalling patterns of movement and exchange, this study of the gift exchange invites reflection on processes of cultural formation within Choctaw and Irish society alike, and sheds light on long-time concerns surrounding spiritual and social identities. This volume aims to facilitate a fuller understanding of the historical complexities that surrounded migration and movement in the colonial world, which in turn will help lead to a more constructive consideration of the ways in which Irish and Native American Studies might be drawn together today.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis work seeks to understand the process of monetization within the economy of the Galicians and Asturians and the cultural ways in which the phenomenon occurred. Numismatic remains are studied in depth, found in four of the roads crossing the northwestern territory of the Iberian peninsula in Roman times; the tracks studied, as referenced in the Itinerary of Antonino, were XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX. All the coins discovered were imported, and so it was possible to mark precisely where the greatest influx of individuals and materials came from, as well as areas and zones of different speeds of monetization and, thus, Romanization. -Spanish Description: A través de este trabajo hemos pretendido comprender el proceso de monetización de la economía de galaicos y astures y las vías culturales por las que el fenómeno se produjo. Para ello hemos estudiado en profundidad los restos numismáticos aparecidos en cuatro de las calzadas que atravesaban el territorio noroccidental de la península ibérica en época romana, las vías XVII, XVIII, XIX y XX del Itinerario de Antonino. Debido a que toda la moneda que encontramos en este territorio es importada, hemos podido marcar con precisión cuáles fueron los horizontes de mayor entrada de individuos y materias, así como áreas y zonas de diferentes velocidades de monetización y con ello de romanización. Seguramente las zonas cercanas a campamentos, dónde se alojaron miles de soldados cuya única economía posible era la monetaria, conocieron y dependieron pronto del valor de la moneda. Igualmente los nuevos núcleos romanos administrativos hubieron de ser centros focales de monetización, aunque desconocemos el por qué no se abrieron cecas de moneda en estas ricas ciudades con importante tráfico de mineral y de gentes, como pueda ser el caso de Astorga o Braga.Table of ContentsCapítulo I: Introducción; Capítulo II: Moneda, economía y sociedad; Capítulo III: La circulación monetaria marca territorios; Capítulo IV: El poco impacto de las primeras monedas; Capítulo V: El gran impacto económico de las monedas llegadas con el ejército augústeo; Capítulo VI: Una circulación envejecida. Los flavios; Capítulo VII: La llegada de nueva moneda y la reparación viaria del SIGLO II d.C. Los antoninos; Capítulo VIII: La quiebra del antiguo sistema monetario. Los severos; Capítulo IX: La recesión económica del siglo III d.C. Período de anarquía militar, ilirios y galos; Capítulo X: La reforma económica de Diocleciano. El gobierno tetrárquico; Capítulo XI: La política monetaria de Constantino y sus hijos; Capítulo XII: Las monedas más devaluadas. Los valentinianos y teodosianos; Capítulo XIII: Conclusiones. ¿Cómo se monetiza un territorio sin moneda propia?; Capítulo XIV: Mapas; Capítulo XV: Corpus de hallazgos: tesoros y depósitos; Capítulo XVI: Corpus de hallazgos: moneda perdida; Bibliografía; Appendix

Read more less

Book SynopsisDublin's Natural History Museum is a uniquely preserved sliver of the past, an intact example of a nineteenth-century natural science collection. While its polished cases and stuffed animals show us what the museum looked like in its heyday, this book is the first detailed exploration of its early history, showing how and why it came into being, and what it meant in nineteenth-century Irish culture. From its earliest days as a small collection at the Royal Dublin Society to the gala inauguration of its new home on Merrion Square in 1857, everyone had an idea about what it was for, and how natural science would benefit Ireland. It was the first public museum in Ireland, a project of the RDS that was supported by central government as an educational venue, and was frequented by ordinary citizens and visitors as well as leading lights of natural science. Its history offers a view of science in Ireland showing that the museum was built over time by donations from citizens and scientific amateurs as well as professionals, and that Irish men of science shaped new knowledge from the raw material in the collections. Far from the aura of genteel nostalgia that continues to attract visitors today, the Natural History Museum of the nineteenth century was an active scientific institution with strong connections to the wider sphere of European science, and shows how participation in natural science was a form cultural activity for the people who engaged with the museum.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBetween the fifth century and the ninth, several thousand churches were founded in Ireland, a greater density than most other regions of Europe. This period saw fundamental changes in settlement patterns, agriculture, social organisation, rituals and beliefs, and churches are an important part of that story. The premise of this book is that landscape archaeology is one of the most fruitful ways to study them. By looking at where they were placed in relation to pagan ritual and royal sites, burial grounds, and settlements, and how they fared over the centuries, we can map the shifting strategies of kings, clerics and ordinary people. The result is a fascinating new perspective on this formative period, with wider implications for the study of social power and religious change elsewhere in Europe. The earliest churches, founded at a time of religious diversity (400-550), were often within royal landscapes, showing that some sections of the elite chose to make space for the new religion. These often lost out to new monasteries positioned at a remove from core royal land, making it possible to grant them the great estates on which their wealth was based (550-800). Now, however, founding churches was no longer a prerogative of kings for we see numerous lesser churches outside these estates. In this way middle-ranking people helped transform the landscape and shape religious cultures in which rituals and beliefs of local origin co-existed alongside Christianity. Finally, in the Viking Age (800-1100), some lesser churches were abandoned while community churches began to exert more of a gravitational pull, foreshadowing the later medieval parish system.Table of ContentsIntroduction Archaeological Approaches to Religion and Religious Change Structure, Study Areas and Site Types 1 Contexts for Conversion and Concepts of Territory Late Iron Age Society and Ritual Trends in Mortuary Practice to 800 Polities, Territories and Boundaries 2 Landscapes of Conversion to c. 550 Southern Ui Faelain Mag Reta Fir Maige Corcu Duibne Discussion 3 Ecclesiastical Estates, c. 550-800 Core Ecclesiastical Landholdings Detached Parcels of Ecclesiastical Land Fir Maige Mag Reta and Adjacent Territories Corcu Duibne Discussion 4 Churches Outside Ecclesiastical Estates, c. 550-800 Models of Episcopal Authority and Pastoral Care Characterising Lesser Churches Fir Maige Southern Ui Faelain Corcu Duibne Discussion 5 Society, Burial Patterns and Churches, c. 800-1100 Models of Social and Economic Change Inecclesiamento: church sites and settlement dynamics elsewhere in Europe From Family to Community Burial? Continuity and Change at Important Church Sites Conclusion 6 Churches in the Landscape, c. 800-1100 Fir Maige Southern Ui Faelain Corcu Duibne Discussion Summary and Conclusion Medieval Land Divisions of Peninsular Corcu Duibne by Paul MacCotter Appendix: The Church Sites of Corcu Duibne Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book brings together the main discussions that took place at an international conference on the iconology of war in the ancient Near East, a subject never addressed at an international meeting before. The articles span the 3rd to the 1st millennium, with a special stress on the Neo-Assyrian period. They try to respond to many questions about representations of war: what is ‘warrior’ iconography and on what basis it can be defined? Did the war scenes follow a specific directory whereby they adopted the most varied forms? Can we determine the most usual conditions for the creation of pictures of wartime (such as periods of great change)? Were the war scenes referring to specific historical events or were they generic representations? What can a society accept from the representations of war? What did war images silence and why? What is a ‘just’ punishment for enemies and thus the ‘just’ representation of it? Who has control of the representation and therefore also the memory of war? Who is the real subject of war representations? What emerges from all the articles published here is the relevance of textual data in any analysis of iconological material. And this is not only true for iconology, but for all the archaeological material discovered at historical sites.Table of ContentsIntroduction: the War and its Representations; Some Observations on the War Scenes on the Seals from Mari City II; Elements Of War Iconography At Mari; Visualizing War in the Old Babylonian Period: Drama and Canon; Middle Assyrian Drama in depicting war: a Step towards Neo-Assyrian Art; “Losing One’s Head”. Some Hints on Procedures and Meanings of Decapitation in the Ancient Near East; Where is the public? A new look at the brutality scenes in Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions and art; Images of War in the Assyrian Period: What They Show and What They Hide

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow can we find alternative, sensorially rich and affective ways of engaging with the material past in the present? How can photography play a central role in archaeological narratives, beyond representation and documentation? This photo-book engages with these questions, not through conventional academic discourse but through evocative creative practice. The book is, at the same time, a site guide of sorts: a photographic guide to the archaeological site of the Sanctuary of Poseidon in Kalaureia, on the island of Poros, in Greece. Ancient and not-so-ancient stones, pine trees that were “wounded” for their resin, people who lived amongst the classical ruins, and the tensions and the clashes with the archaeological apparatus and its regulations, all become palpable, affectively close and immediate. Furthermore, the book constitutes an indirect but concrete proposal for the adoption of archaeological photo-ethnography as a research as well as public communication tool for critical heritage studies, today.Trade Review‘Camera Kalaureia is a fresh, non-conventional, creative, and highly evocative archaeological photo-ethnography, combining all in one of Hamilakis’ ideological standpoints on archaeology, heritage, and the body, and against colonialism, nationalism and modernism, with Ifantidis’ masterful craft of the lens. Aimed at a broad audience, academic and not, the book does not merely present a visual alternative for ideas and interpretations in archaeology; it is also an artefact and agent, a contributor in the cultural production of the discipline itself. As a potential research tool, it is yet to be seen whether conventional archaeology is ready to take on the challenge.’ – Lita Tzortzopoulou-Gregory, Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens (2019): Journal of Greek Archaeology Table of ContentsWhat is a photograph? ; Itineraries ; Boundaries ; Traces ; Producers ; Re-collections ; Encounters ; Overwritings ; Dispersals ; Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisRich in archival detail and offering a ground-breaking analysis, this book presents a radically new interpretation of British politics and policy failings during the Great Famine. The Irish famine of the 1840s is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the United Kingdom's history. Within six years of the arrival of the potato blight in Ireland in 1845, more than a quarter of its residents had unexpectedly died or emigrated. Its population has not yet fully recovered since. Historians have struggled to explain why the British government decided to shut down its centrally organised relief efforts in 1847, long before the famine ended. Some have blamed the laissez-faire attitudes of the time for an inadequate response by the British government; others have alleged purposeful neglect and genocide. In contrast, The Great Famine in Ireland and Britain's Financial Crisis uncovers a hidden narrative of the crisis, which links policy failure in Ireland to financial and political instability in Great Britain. More important than a laissez-faire ideology in hindering relief efforts for Ireland were the British government's lack of a Parliamentary majority from 1846, the financial crises of 1847, and a battle of ideas over monetary policy between proponents and opponents of financial orthodoxy. The high death toll in Ireland resulted from the British government's plans for intervention going awry, rather than being prematurely cancelled because of laissez-faire. This book is essential reading for scholars, students and anyone interested in Anglo-Irish relations, the history of financial crises and famines, and why humanitarian-relief efforts can go wrong even with good intentions.Trade ReviewThe Great Famine is based on the author's multi-award-winning PhD thesis. Well-researched and extensively footnoted ... The book nonetheless deserves a wide readership as a serious and balanced contribution to the Irish economic history canon. * THE IRISH TIMES *An extraordinarily wide-ranging, deeply researched and original critique of economic thinking, politics and policy making in mid-nineteenth Britain and Ireland. Read's work radically reshapes our understanding of the Great Irish Famine and of British politics more generally. It is the most holistic account yet of the catastrophic consequences of political and policy failure in a time of crisis, good intentions notwithstanding. * Liam Kennedy, Emeritus Professor of Economic History, Queen’s University Belfast *In this bold new interpretation of the biggest economic policy disaster in modern British history, Charles Read argues that the failure to provide sufficient relief spending during the Great Irish Famine was the result of a fiscal and financial crisis rather than a commitment to laissez faire ideology. This is essential reading for any serious scholar of modern Irish and British history. * Stephen Broadberry, Professor of Economic History, University of Oxford *Despite being written for a scholarly audience, the book's jolt to the senses resonates far beyond any solely academic setting. Great Famine injects a massive strand of fresh thinking into what had largely appeared to have been a dead end of history. It's challenging to describe what an incredible achievement this is. Parts of Great Famine go right against the grain of Britain's mythology about itself: it's almost heretical. It's hard not to be awestruck at the audacity of Dr Read's thesis and the way he unveils it. https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/amp/cambridge-author-exhumes-irish-famine-and-details-a-financia-9287608/ -- Mike Scialom * Cambridge Independent *Recommended. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction 1. The sources of financial and political instability 2. The economic policy reforms of Sir Robert Peel 3. Famine relief before the crises of 1847 4. Famine relief during and after the crises 5. The intentions and consequences of redistributive relief policy 6. Ireland and Mauritius: the British Empire's other famine in 1847 Conclusion: Britain's biggest economic-policy failure Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisInterpretation of coin finds is not quite an easy thing. How to distinguish, e. g., material of ‘hoards’ from that of ‘votive deposits’? Where are the ‘border lines’ dividing numismatic find categories from each other? Questions like these deserve a closer scrutiny. This book tries to face the problems by: proposing clear definitions for categories and sub-categories of coin finds; by collecting and interpreting written testimonies (from ancient literature, epigraphy and papyrology) casting light on reasons and circumstances of coin deposition and coin loss in antiquity; by describing differences of composition between the categories; by discussing difficulties of ‘differential diagnosis’; and the role of secondary finds. For each problem and for each find category a large number of examples is offered.Table of ContentsAbbildungsnachweis; Vorwort; 1. Einführung: Die Kategorien des numismatischen Fundes; 2. Münzschatzfunde (Münzhorte); 3. Weihefunde; 4. Münzen als Bau(?)- und Schiffsamulette; 5. Grabfunde; 6. Einzelfunde; 7. Sekundäre Funde und falsche Fundortangaben; 8. Zusammenfassung der Definitionen von Fundkategorien / Definitions of Find Categories (English Abstract); 9. Literaturabkürzungen

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume presents a series of studies of the wine from Hispania Citerior-Tarraconensis traded in amphorae, with the aim of demonstrating (as has recently been done for the amphora production) the existence of different trade dynamics, according to individual cases, territories and periods. While seeking to avoid descriptions of a generalised nature, the present volume aims to illustrate the complexity of the trading system, emphasizing intra- and inter-provincial commercial patterns and the way in which these evolved during the period considered. Although this work includes the results of a few highly specific case studies (which cannot replace the findings from other better or lesser known sites), they cover most of the areas of wine production and trade and all the dimensions of analysis in which archaeological, epigraphic and literary data related to the commercial distribution might be framed.Table of ContentsPrefacio - Preface (Verònica Martínez Ferreras) I: El fenómeno vitivinícola en Hispania Citerior-Tarraconensis: Agricultura, artesanado rural y territorio en el noreste de Hispania Citerior: estructuras y dinámica (Víctor Revilla Calvo) Arqueología del vino en época romana: Teoría económica, lógica productiva y comercial aplicada al envasado, la expedición, el transporte y la distribución de ánforas vinarias del noreste peninsular (s. I a.C.-I d.C.) (Antoni Martín i Oliveras) II: Dinámicas comerciales a través de los estudios epigráficos: Consideraciones sobre las marcas en ánforas tarraconenses en la Layetania septentrional. Los casos de El Mujal-El Roser (Calella) y Can Rodon y Ca l’Arnau (Cabrera de Mar) (Albert Martín Menéndez) Novedades de epigrafía anfórica en el Baix Llobregat (Piero Berni Millet) Novedades en torno a la producción y distribución de las ánforas del Ager Barcinonensis (El Baix Llobregat) (Cèsar Carreras Monfort) Exportación e importación de ánforas en el ager tarraconensis entre finales de la República y el Alto Imperio (Ramon Járrega Domínguez y Piero Berni Millet) III: El comercio intraprovincial: Empúries, puerto de recepción y redistribución del vino de la Tarraconense (Tremoleda, Pere Castanyer y Marta Santos) La dinámica comercial de Tarraco: las importaciones de ánforas vinarias (100 a.C.-100 d.C.) (Pere Gebellí Borràs) Productores y mercatores de Baetulo (Badalona). Las ánforas vinarias y la epigrafía asociada (Montserrat Comas i Solà y Verònica Martínez Ferreras) IV: El comercio interprovincial: L’épave Port-Vendres 4 (Port-Vendres, Pyrénées-Orientales, France): un exemple de commerce d’exportation à partir d’un port de Tarraconaise (Ier s. av. J.-C.) (Dali Colls, Georges Castellvi, Michel Salvat, Verònica Martínez Ferreras y Marie-Pierre Jézégou) Les amphores de Tarraconaise dans les contextes narbonnais (Corinne Sanchez) Les circuits d’exportation des vins de Tarraconaise en Gaule (Fanette Laubenheimer) L’origine des amphores de l’ensemble aristocratique d’Antran (Vienne, France) (Fanette Laubenheimer y Verònica Martínez Ferreras) Hallazgos de productos tarraconenses en la frontera germana. Un mercado secundario (Horacio González Cesteros)

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn incisive analysis of contemporary crime film in Brazil, this book focuses on how movies in this genre represent masculinity and how their messages connect to twenty-first-century sociopolitical issues. Jeremy Lehnen argues that these films promote an agenda in support of the nation's recent swing toward authoritarianism that culminated in the 2018 election of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.Lehnen examines the integral role of masculinity in several archetypal crime films, most of which foreground urban violence, including Cidade de Deus, Quase Dois Irmãos, Tropa de Elite, O Homem do Ano, and O Doutrinador. Within these films, Lehnen finds representations that criminalize the poor, marginalized male; emasculate the civilian middle-class male intellectual, casting him as unable to respond to crime; and portray state security as the only power able to stem increasing crime rates.Drawing on insights from masculinity studies, Lehnen contends that Brazilian crime films are ideologically charged mediums that assert and normalize the presence of the neo-authoritarian male within society. This book demonstrates how gendered scripts can become widely accepted by audiences and contribute to very real power structures beyond the sphere of cinema.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe excavation of the Leckie Iron Age broch in Stirlingshire, Scotland, took place during the 1970’s after the author had been asked to organise the work by a local archaeological society. At that stage the author did not consider – despite its location – that the site might vividly reflect the expansion of the Roman Empire into southern Scotland in the late first century AD. For various reasons the final report was not written until about thirty years after the fieldwork finished and by then the quality and significance of the Roman finds was much better understood, thanks to the analysis of them by experts. Many of them seemed like gifts to the broch chief, despite the clear evidence of the violent destruction of the broch at a later date. The Roman author Tacitus gave a detailed account of Governor Agricola’s campaigns in southern Scotland and pointed out that he sometimes tried to make friends with local chiefs before invading their territories, to avoid un-necessary casualties. This also applied to the first Roman naval excursion up the west coast and explains the evidence from Dun Ardtreck, Skye, excavated in the 1960’s. This site was also destroyed later and this could reflect the later hostile voyage of the navy after the battle of Mons Graupius which occurred after a few years of campaigning. Thus Rome’s accounts can allow one to understand the history of some native sites much more vividly.Table of ContentsLIST OF FIGURES; INTRODUCTION; PART 1: THE IMPACT OF ROME ON IRON AGE SCOTLAND; PART 2: BACKGROUND TO THE EXCAVATIONS; PART 3: THE BASIC STRATIGRAPHY OF THE SITE; PART 4: OCCUPATION PHASES AND DAILY LIFE; PART 5: Bibliography and Appendices

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt took nearly sixty years for a meaningful climate change bill to run the political gauntlet from Capitol Hill to the Oval Office. Why?From mavericks to party standard-bearers, U.S. Senators, members of the House of Representatives, and presidential candidates have campaigned for four decades espousing their intentions to address the impacts of climate change.Glacial: The Inside Story of Climate Politics is the first Inside-the-Beltway account to lay bare the machinations of what went wrong in Washington—how and why our leaders failed to act on climate change as mounting scientific evidence underscored the urgency to do so. Glacial tells a story of behind-the-scenes infighting and power struggles that blocked or derailed federal legislative progress on climate change, even in times of bipartisanship and with polls showing most Americans favored action.The good news today is that public opinion is at its highest level of support

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Old Kingdom of Egypt (Dynasties 4–6, c. 2600–2180 BC) is famous as a period of the builders of the largest Egyptian pyramids. It is generally accepted that the evidence on the use of copper alloy tools from this era is meagre. Martin Odler gathers the textual, iconographic and palaeographic evidence and examines Old Kingdom artefacts in order to revise this view on the use of copper alloy tools and model tools. Furthermore, he provides updated definitions of tool classes and tool kits, together with the context of their use. Besides rare specimens of full-size tools, the largest corpora of the material have been preserved in the form of model tools in the burial equipment of the Old Kingdom elite and were most probably symbols of their power to commission and fund craftwork. Moreover, the size and elaboration of the model tools were probably connected to the social status of the buried persons. The long-standing division in the Egyptological literature between full-size tools and model tools is questioned. The ancient sources also enable to show that the preservation of material culture from the Old Kingdom was largely dependent on a conscious selection made within the past culture, with completely different settlement and funerary contexts and a conspicuous absence of weapons. The volume is completed by co-authored case studies on archaeometallurgy of selected Old Kingdom artefacts in the collection of the Egyptian Museum of Leipzig University, on morphometry of Old Kingdom adze blades and on the finds of stone and ceramic vessels associated with the findings of so-called Old Kingdom model tools.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Limits of subject, chronology and chorology ; 2. Tools and model tools in archaeological theory ; 3. Tools and toilet implements in Ancient Egypt – history of research ; 4. Definitions of artefacts ; 5. Research tools ; 6. Copper tools in Old Kingdom textual and iconographic sources ; 7. Archaeological sources – material culture ; 8. Tools and toilet implements ; 9. Towards a semiosis of tools in the Old Kingdom culture ; 10. Conclusion ; 11. Case studies ; Bibliography ; Web sources ; Online Catalogue bit.ly/2cT1NFz

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince absolute dating of rock art is limited, relative chronologies remain useful in contextualising interpretations of ancient images. This book advocates the archival capacity of rock art and uses archival perspectives to analyse the chronology of paintings in order to formulate a framework for their historicised interpretations. The Western Cape painting sequence is customarily accepted to include the hunter-gatherer phase from c. 10,000 BP, pastoralism from c. 2,000 BP and finally the historical-cum-colonial period several centuries ago. Painting traditions with distinct depiction manners and content are conventionally linked to these broad periods. This study evaluates this schema in order to refine the diverse hunter-gatherer, herder and colonial era painting contexts and histories. Using superimpositions as one analytical tool, the notion of datum aided the referencing and correlation of layered imagery into a relative sequence. Although broad differences separate painting traditions, and these variations are generally indistinguishable within a single tradition, it is clear that the long-spanning hunter-gatherer segment of painting in this region reflects a hitherto unrecognised sub-tradition. Some painted themes such as elephants, fat-tailed sheep, handprints and possibly finger dots occur within various levels of the sequence, which this study views as shared graphic fragments occurring between and across traditions and sub-traditions. Through the archival concept of respect des fonds such observable complexities were clarified as coherent graphic narratives that run through the entire chronological sequence of the Western Cape rock paintings. Probing archaeological, ethnographic and historical sources revealed that while these themes remained fundamentally consistent throughout the stratigraphic sequence as preferred subject matter, their meanings might have transformed subliminally from earlier to later periods, possibly reflecting layered shifts in the socio-economic, cultural and political circumstances of the region. Fundamentally, the framework of image histories shown by the choice and sustenance of specific themes is understood to mean that their significance and specific graphic contexts throughout the chronological sequence are pivoted and mirrored through the long established hunter-gatherer rock paintings which predate periods of contact with other cultures. The resulting sequence and interpretation of these painted themes is a descriptive and organisational template reflecting the original organic character in the creation of the paintings and ordered cultural continuities in the use of animal/human symbolism. This book’s agenda in part involves reviewing the Western Cape’s changing social and historical landscape to show variation in painting over time and to project possible interpretative transformations. Painting sequences and cultural (dis)continuities are thus intricately entwined and can be disentangled through a recursive analytical relationship between archaeology, ethnography and history. This amalgamated analytical approach produces historicised narratives and contextual meanings for the rock paintings.Table of ContentsAbstract ; CHAPTER ONE: CONCEIVING ROCK ART ARCHIVES ; CHAPTER TWO: SHIFTING ROCK ART PERSPECTIVES ; CHAPTER THREE: ECOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT ; CHAPTER FOUR: CAPE HISTORICAL SETTING ; CHAPTER FIVE: THEORY, METHOD AND METHODOLOGY ; CHAPTER SIX: KEY SITES AND THEIR CONSTELLATIONS ; CHAPTER SEVEN: CAPE CHRONOLOGY ; CHAPTER EIGHT: ART ON THE FRONTIER ; CHAPTER NINE: PAST TO PRESENT ; REFERENCES ; APPENDIX 1

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this captivating and meticulously researched book, delve into the heart of history as the New Forest emerges from obscurity to take its rightful place in the annals of World War II.Through an engaging blend of personal anecdotes, period news items, and insightful social commentary, the true significance of wartime preparations in this hallowed land are unveiled, their local, regional, and national context brought to life.Table of ContentsForeword Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction A message from Marion Loveland Preparations for Invasion 1 Music While you Work 2 Christmas of 1939 3 The War Had Come to Us 4 Eyes to the Skies 5 On Manoeuvres 6 Defending the Realm 7 They also Served 8 In Case of Fire 9 Through Adversity to the Stars 10 On the Home Front Line 11 Patrolling in the Shadows 12 Personal Anecdotes 13 Evidence of War 14 Then and Now Postscript New Forest Reference Section Hampshire Reference Section

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisMirrors of Salt publishes the proceedings of the First International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt, which took place at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi (Romania). The impact of salt on the development of human communities, from the Neolithic to the present, has generated a huge number of specialized studies. However, scientific research has become so atomized that the primordial importance of the mineral has been lost, creating a need for a holistic, comprehensive vision of the dimensions generated by salt. This can only be achieved through anthropology. The anthropology of salt encompasses the entirety of human behavior, i.e. cognitive, spiritual, pragmatic, and social reactions to salt, and provides a holistic view of its role in the evolution of human communities. The anthropology of salt thus brings salt studies from an ancillary position to an autonomous discipline. The papers in this volume are organized into six sections: theory, archaeology, history, ethnography/ ethnoarchaeology/ethnohistory, linguistics, and literature. Topics include salt in Greek and Roman antiquity, as well as from Cameroon, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria, Peru, Romania, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, the USA and Venezuela. The congress was organized within the project The Ethnoarchaeology of the Salt Springs and Salt Mountains from the Extra-Carpathian Areas of Romania, financed by the Government of Romania (CNCS UEFISCDI) (2011-2016). Its theoretical novelty and geographical range render Mirrors of Salt a unique study of the world's most-used non-metallic mineral.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Age of Assassins describes in gripping detail Vladimir Putin?s ruthless rise to power in Russia from his earliest rise to power in 1991 as an insignificant former KGB officer in Berlin. He gained power over the entire country and its economy by determining elections through business deals and criminal intervention ? from sophisticated cheating right up to murder and poisoning.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book re-assesses archaeological research into holy well sites in Ireland and the evidence for votive deposition at watery sites throughout northwest European prehistory. Ray examines a much-ignored and diminishing archaeological resource; moving beyond debates about the possible Celticity of these sites in order to gain a deeper understanding of patterns among sacred watery sites. The work considers how and why sacred springs are archaeologically-resistant sites and what has actually been found at the few excavated in Ireland. Drawing on the early Irish literature (the myths, hagiographies, penitentials and annals), the author gives an account of pre-Christian supermundane wells in Ireland and what we know about their early Christian use for baptism, and concludes by considering the origins of “rounding” rituals at holy wells.Table of Contents1: Water Veneration and Votive Deposition in Prehistoric Northern and Western Europe ; 2: Iron Age Evidence, Continuity, and the “Celtic” Question ; 3: Iron Age Water Deities ; 4: Holy Wells and Sacred Springs as Archaeologically-Resistant Sites ; 5: The Contested Origins and Materiality of Irish Holy Wells ; 6: Supermundane Wells of the Iron Age and the Early Irish Literature ; 7: Irish Sacred Wells of the Early Christian Era and the Conversion Model ; 8: Sacred Springs and Conversion Strategies in Britain and on the Continent ; 9: Christian Holy Wells and Baptism ; 10: The Origins of Rounding and the Interconnectedness of Wells ; Appendix A: Irish Excavation Reports of “holy wells” from Excavations.ie (as of June 2014) ; Appendix B: Holy Wells in the County Archaeological Inventories of Ireland

Read more less

Book SynopsisAt the end of the 6th dynasty the 500 year old established order of the Old Kingdom fell apart, which, according to the interpretation given to various contemporary literary sources, started a period of social unrest and economic decline. The magnitude of the economic investment bestowed by the members of the higher social strata on the monuments that would be the abode for their after-life leads to the hypothesis that an economic decline could also manifest itself in the dimensions of the various architectonic elements of these monuments. The dimensions of the tombs have been chosen as the subject of this study. The preliminary part of the study is performed on the tombs in the necropolis of Giza. The results of the study are compared with the same measurements in the necropoleis of Saqqara and Abusir. The conclusion is that the economic decline started already at the early dynastic period and not as a result of the caving in of the Old Kingdom. An interesting ‘side-effect’ of the study is that the dimensions of the tombs can serve as a method to check a dating that has been proposed based on other aspect of the tomb.Table of ContentsPart I: Various Chronological Developments of Dimensional Aspects of the Tombs in the Necropolis of Giza ; Introduction ; Chapter One: Preliminary Considerations ; Chapter Two: The Necropolis of Giza ; Chapter Three: The Chronological Development of the Number of False Doors ; Chapter Four: The Chronological Development of the Dimensions of the Tombs and Their Chapels. Part I ; Chapter Five: The Chronological Developments in the Dimensions of the Tombs and Their Chapels. Part II ; Chapter Six: The Chronological Development of the Number of False Doors in Relation to the Dimensions of the Tomb ; Chapter Seven: Discussion, Analyses and Conclusions in Relation to the Necropolis of Giza ; Part II: The Necropoleis of Abusir and Saqqara. A Verification of the Chronological Tendencies in the Necropolis of Giza ; Chapter Eight: The Necropolis of Saqqara ; Chapter Nine: Various Chronological Developments in the Necropolis of Saqqara ; Chapter Ten: The Tombs in the Necropolis of Abusir ; Part III: Additional Methods for Controlling the Proposed Dating of a Tomb ; Chapter Eleven: Methods of Checking the Proposed Datings of Tombs ; Chapter Twelve: The Necropoleis of Saqqara, Giza and Abusir: Discussion and Conclusions ; Part IV: Catalogues and Tables

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisSee the Holocaust through the Eyes of Children.Stefan and Marion Hess's happy childhood was shattered in 1943. Torn from their home in Amsterdam, the six-year-old twins and their parents were deported to a place their mother called "this dying hell"—the infamous concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. Inseparable is the vivid account of one family's struggle to survive the Holocaust. In the camp, the children ran from SS soldiers, making it a game to see who could get closest to the guard towers before being warned they would be shot. Stefan and Marion witnessed their father beaten beyond recognition, dodged strafing warplanes, and somehow survived in a place where "the children were looking for bread between the corpses." Above all, this is the unforgettable story of a young mother and father who were willing to sacrifice everything for their children. From the Hesses' prosperous pre-war life in Germany to their desperate ride in a bulletstrafed boxcar through the rubble of the collapsing Third Reich, Faris Cassell weaves Stefan and Marion’s personal memories and historical details into a gripping narration of their family’s heroic fight for their lives. As the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, the Hess twins' account of their childhood ordeal forces the reader to grapple with pure evil. And more important, it is an opportunity to offer the most meaningful of tributes to victims and survivors of the Third Reich—remembrance.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis meticulous investigation, based around a famous rock image, the ‘White Lady’, makes it possible to take stock of the mythical presuppositions that infuse a great deal of scientific research, especially in the case of rock art studies. It also highlights the existence of some surprising bridges between scholarly works and literary or artistic productions (novels, films, comic strips, adventure tales). The examination of the abbé Breuil’s archives and correspondence shows that the primary motivation of the work he carried out in southern Africa like that of his pupil Henri Lhote in the Tassili was the search for ancient, vanished ‘white’ colonies which were established, in prehistory, in the heart of the dark continent. Both Breuil and Lhote found paintings on African rocks that, in their view, depicted ‘white women’ who were immediately interpreted as goddesses or queens of the ancient kingdoms of which they believed they had found the vestiges. In doing this, they were reviving and nourishing two myths at the same time: that of a Saharan Atlantis for Henri Lhote and, for the abbé, that of the identification of the great ruins of Zimbabwe with the mythical city of Ophir from which, according to the Bible, King Solomon derived his fabulous wealth. With hindsight we can now see very clearly that their theories were merely a clumsy reflection of the ideas of their time, particularly in the colonial context of the Sahara and in the apartheid of South Africa. Without their knowledge, these two scholars’ scientific production was used to justify the white presence in Africa, and it was widely manipulated to that end. And yet recent studies have demonstrated that the ‘White Lady’ who so fascinated the abbé Breuil was in reality neither white nor even a woman. One question remains: if such an interpenetration of science and myth in the service of politics was possible in the mid-20th century, could it happen today?Table of ContentsList of Figures; Introduction; Acknowledgements; Chapter 1: Reinhard Maack and the Brandberg; Chapter 2: A few other servants of the White Lady; Chapter 3: Mary Boyle puts pen to paper; Chapter 4: In which a few doubts arise; Chapter 5: Of a hapax which isn’t one any longer; Chapter 6: The ‘Saharan connection’; Chapter 7: From Atlantis seekers to flying saucer dreamers; Chapter 8: On the role of literature and especially tales of ‘lost worlds’; Chapter 9: In which we look at bridges; Chapter 10: Ophir, the mythical city and Solomonic traditions; Chapter 11: The Queen of Sheba among the Afrikaners; Chapter 12: No photos!; Chapter 13: Knossos in Africa; Chapter 14: The future of an illusion; Chapter 15: Short biographical dictionary of the principal protagonists; Bibliography

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘What joy to be at sea again, adrift on the vast Pacific, in the clutches of a gifted storyteller. Harrison Christian and the mutineers of Men Without Country held me happily captive to the very last page.’ – Dava Sobel, author of Longitude‘Men Without Country shows what a writer can produce when he has real skin in the game... Harrison Christian sets the record straight on the Bounty mutiny with forensic fervour, including the before, the during – and the after.’ – Adam Courtenay, author of The Ship that Never WasFull of misadventure and mystery, Men Without Country is a sweeping history of exploration and rebellion in the South Seas – told by a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, the man who led the infamous mutiny on the BountyA mission to collect breadfruit from Tahiti becomes the most famous mutiny in history when the crew rise up against Captain William Bligh, with accusations of food restrictions and unfair punishments.Bligh’s remarkable journey back to safety is well documented, but the fates of the mutinous men remain shrouded in mystery. Some settled in Tahiti only to face capture and court martial, others sailed on to form a secret colony on Pitcairn Island, the most remote inhabited island on earth, avoiding detection for twenty years. When an American captain stumbled across the island in 1808, only one of the Bounty mutineers was left alive.Told by a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, Men Without Country details the journey of the Bounty, and the lives of the men aboard. Lives dominated by a punishing regime of hard work and scarce rations, and deeply divided by the hierarchy of class. It is a tale of adventure and exploration punctuated by moments of extreme violence – towards each other and the people of the South Pacific.For the first time, Christian provides a comprehensive and compelling account of the whole story – from the history of trade and exploration in the South Seas to Pitcairn Island, which provided the mutineers’ salvation, and then became their grave.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume comprises thirteen reports detailing fieldwork undertaken by a research project which sought to assess the archaeological evidence of the period of conflict that took place in mid-twelfth-century England popularly known as ‘the Anarchy’. The reign of King Stephen (ad 1135– 54) was characterised by a protracted struggle for power between forces loyal to the crown and those who supported the Angevin claim of his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda. Alongside a succession of bitter rebellions the war also saw large-scale Scottish invasions into, and occupation of, large parts of northern England as well as border warfare on the marches between England and Wales and a struggle for control of Normandy. While the period is infamous for the proliferation of conflict, castle-building and siege warfare, and for a breakdown of royal government, its characterisation as ‘the Anarchy’ is now challenged by historians, however. As previous understanding of this tumultuous period had rested almost entirely upon interpretation of written sources, Anarchy? War and Status in Twelfth-Century Landscapes of Conflict was a programme of research which systematically studied the archaeology of mid-twelfth century England for the first time. A major component of the project was the targeted archaeological investigation of selected case study locations across England. Geophysical and topographic surveys were supplemented with archival, documentary and cartographic analyses in order to reveal the character and chronological development of a sample of potential Anarchy-period sites and landscapes. The current volume represents the product of these endeavours, presenting self-contained reports of the sites where these investigations took place, arranged alphabetically.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Surveying the Archaeology of Twelfth-Century England; Chapter 2 Burwell Castle, Cambridgeshire; Chapter 3 Castle Carlton, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire; Chapter 4 Corfe, ‘The Rings’, Dorset; Chapter 5 Crowmarsh Recreation Ground, South Oxfordshire; Chapter 6 Folly Hill, Faringdon, Oxfordshire; Chapter 7 Hailes Camp, Gloucestershire; Chapter 8 Hamstead Marshall, Castle I, Berkshire; Chapter 9 Malmebury, ‘Cams’s Hill’, Wiltshire; Chapter 10 Mountsorrel, Leicestershire; Chapter 11 Rampton, ‘Giant’s Hill’, Cambridgeshire; Chapter 12 Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire; Chapter 13 Wellow, Nottinghamshire; Chapter 14 Woodwalton, ‘Church End’, Cambridgeshire; Chapter 15 Conclusion; References

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrading Territories tells the compelling story of maps and geographical knowledge in the early modern world from the fifteenth to the early seventeenth century. Examining how European geographers mapped the territories of the Old World -Africa and Southeast Asia - this book shows how the historical preoccupation with Columbus's `discovery' of the New World of America in 1492 obscured the ongoing importance of mapping territories that have since been defined as `eastern', especially those in the Muslim world. In this book, now available in paperback and updated with a new preface by the author, Jerry Brotton shows that trade and diplomacy defined the development of maps and globes in this period, far more than the disinterested pursuit of scientific accuracy and objectivity, and challenges our preconceptions about not just maps, but also the history and geography of what we call East and West.Trade Review`A beautifully illustrated account of the status, construction and purposes of maps in the Early Modern world.' - History Today; `Jerry Brotton's elegant Trading Territories shows how historically maps were about facilitating trade and celebrating (and exerting) influence.' - The Independent

Read more less

Book SynopsisA retired union rep teaches his granddaughter about the history of the British labour movement from the Peasants Revolt in the 14th century to the present day.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAncient Greek vase-paintings offer broad-ranging and unprecedented early perspectives on the often intricate interplay of images and texts. By bringing together—for the first time in English-language scholarship—an international group of leading scholars in classical art and archaeology who have worked on vase-inscriptions, this book investigates epigraphic technicalities of Attic and non-Attic inscriptions on pottery as well as their broader iconographic and sociocultural significance. The ten chapters in this book propose original and expert methodological approaches to the study of vase-inscriptions and vasepaintings, while also foregrounding the outstanding but not fully examined importance of the area of vase-inscriptions for current research on ancient Greek visual representations. Epigraphy of Art: Ancient Greek Vase-Inscriptions and Vase-Paintings constitutes a major contribution to the fields of Greek epigraphy and classical art and archaeology and will prove significant for epigraphists, archaeologists, and art-historians interested in the complexities of the interaction of art and text.Trade Review'Lavishly illustrated, as the subject demands, and showing Archaeopress at its best.' * Volume 19 *Table of ContentsPreface: Art and Epigraphy: Ancient Greek Vase-Inscriptions - Dimitrios Yatromanolakis Inscriptions and Visual Representations on Attic Vases: Questions, Methodologies, Technical and Contextual Approaches Chapter One: Soundscapes (and Two Speaking Lyres) - Dimitrios Yatromanolakis Chapter Two: Hipparchos kalos - Thomas Mannack Chapter Three: ‘So-and-so καλή’: A Reexamination - Guy Hedreen Chapter Four: Inscribed Mythical Names on Attic Vase-Paintings from 570 to 530 BC: A Contextual Approach - Burkhard Fehr Chapter Five: Meaningless, But Not Useless!: Nonsense Inscriptions on Athenian Little-Master Cups - Pieter Heesen Inscriptions on Apulian Vases Chapter Six: Inscriptions on Apulian Red-Figure Vases: A Survey - John H. Oakley Chapter Seven: Some Observations on Apulian Vase-Inscriptions with a Particular Focus on the Darius Painter - Thomas H. Carpenter Visual Identities: Attic and Corinthian Vase-Inscriptions and the Significance of their Placement Chapter Eight: Instant Messaging: Dance, Text, and Visual Communication on Archaic Corinthian and Athenian Vases - Tyler Jo Smith Chapter Nine: Tracing Letters on the Eurymedon Vase: On the Importance of Placement of Vase-Inscriptions - Georg Simon Gerleigner Chapter Ten: Sophilos, Inscriptions, and the Funeral Games for Patroklos - Mary Moore Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn ancient and long-extinct volcano lies at the heart of Scotland's capital. It roared into life some 350 million years ago and has been a source of fascination since it was first studied in earnest during the Enlightenment by James Hutton, one of the most significant geologists of all time. Many of Hutton's ground-breaking ideas of how the world works were predicated on the rocks and landscapes of his home city and surrounding area. This book is a fascinating exploration into Edinburgh's geological history over millions of years - including the passage of ice during a great freeze that has left an indelible stamp on Edinburgh's cityscape, the use rocks quarried locally from ancient, now long disappeared seas to create the stunning elegance of Edinburgh's New Town, and the coal deposits and oil shale which were exploited from the Industrial Revolution to the present day.Trade Review'Alan McKirdy’s insights are valuable because he is the author of a string of accessible and informative short illustrated books on the geological history of Scotland' * West Highland Free Press *'Not only are they a wealth of information on Scotland's past, they offer valuable insight as Scotland’s future becomes increasingly uncertain due to climate change' * Dundee Courier *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Isle of Arran dominates the Firth of Clyde. A favourite haunt of holidaymakers, it is also a place of fascination for the geologist, offering a huge variety of rocks that represent a massive slice through geological time. From the ancient bent and buckled strata of Dalradian - a small fragment of the roots of the once mighty Scottish Highlands - the dramatic Northern mountains through which ice gouged its way during the Ice Age, to the relatively recent (some 60 million years ago!) rocks associated with the Arran volcano, the geological record tells an amazing tale. This book is a fascinating introduction to the landscape of Arran - one of the significant geological areas of the country.Trade Review'Alan McKirdy’s insights are valuable because he is the author of a string of accessible and informative short illustrated books on the geological history of Scotland' * West Highland Free Press *'Not only are they a wealth of information on Scotland's past, they offer valuable insight as Scotland’s future becomes increasingly uncertain due to climate change' * Dundee Courier *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Roman fort at Bearsden and its annexe, together with areas beyond its defences, were extensively excavated from 1973 to 1982. The report on these excavations was published in 2016. This ‘popular’ account of the discoveries looks at the material recovered from the site in a different way, examining the process of archaeological excavation, the life of the soldiers at the fort based on the results of the excavation as well as material from elsewhere in the Roman Empire, the presentation and interpretation of the bath-house and latrine, and a discussion of possible future work arising out of the excavation. The excavation report was well illustrated with reconstruction drawings and the process of creating these is also discussed.Table of ContentsPreface; Finding the fort; Building the fort; Life in the fort; Bathing at Bearsden; Protecting the empire; Reconstructing Bearsden; The end – and the future

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Clyde is arguably the most evocative of Scottish rivers. Its mention conjures up a variety of images of power, productivity and pleasure from its ‘bonnie banks’ through the orchards of south Lanarkshire to its association with shipbuilding and trade and the holiday memories of thousands who fondly remember going ‘doon the watter’. Its story reflects much of the history of the lands it flows through and the people who live on its banks. This book looks at the maps which display the river itself from its source to the wide estuary which is as much a part of the whole image. It discusses how the river was mapped from its earliest depictions and includes such topics as navigation, river crossings, war and defence, tourism, sport and recreation, industry and power and urban development.Trade Review'This book beautifully presents the many layers of meaning that are represented by those two words, The Clyde. Thoroughly recommended' * Scottish Local History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisArchaeology with Art is the result of a 2013 Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) conference session that aimed to merge the perspectives of artists and archaeologists on making art. It explores the relationship between archaeology and art practice, the interactions between materials and practitioners, and the processes that result in the objects and images we call ‘art’. The book offers new approaches to the study of creative practices in archaeology, ranging from experimental investigations to philosophical explorations and contains a diverse set of papers that use insights from contemporary art practice to examine the making of past artworks.Table of ContentsArchaeology with Art: A short introduction to this book (Helen Chittock and Joana Valdez-Tullett) ; The paragone has gone (Andrew Cochrane) ; Making carved stone balls: art, experimental practice and archaeological research (Andrew Meirion Jones) ; The fate of a thinking animal: the role of Upper Palaeolithic rock-art in mediating the relationship between humans and their surroundings (António Batarda Fernandes) ; The rock ‘artist’: exploring processes of interaction in the rock art landscapes of the north of Ireland (Rebecca Enlander) ; Art, Materiality and Creativity: understanding Atlantic Rock Art (Joana Valdez-Tullett) ; Images and materials: The making of narrative imagery in rock art and on metalwork (Peter Skoglund) ; Categorising the Iron Age: Similarity and Difference in an East Yorkshire Assemblage (Helen Chittock) ; Imagining and Illustrating the Archaeological Record: The Power of Evocation and ; Augmentation of Linear Drawing (Dragoş Gheorghiu) ; Moving, changing, becoming: applying Aristotle´s kinesis paradigm to rock art (Andy Valdez-Tullett) ; Experiential Art and Archaeology: Vital Material Engagements (Eloise Govier) ; Living Symbols of Kilmartin Glen (John Was & Aaron Watson)

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe island of Gigha is a small gem, the most southerly of the true Hebridean islands, lying just off Tayinloan on Scotland's Kintyre peninsula. Gigha's good harbours, fertile land, mild climate and strategically useful position have given it a fascinating history. Catherine Czerkawska relates the sometimes turbulent story of the people of Gigha, from the settlers of prehistoric times, through successive incomers including the Celts, the Vikings, and the McNeill lords of this island. A few years ago Gigha was the subject of the largest community buyout in British history, and she brings the story up to date, in examining the relationship between a contemporary island community and its own rich past. The author, like so many people, fell helplessly in love at first sight with Gigha and returns to it time and again. This book explores just what it is that makes the island such an enchanting place.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe life of Robert Bruce is one of the greatest comeback stories in history. Heir and magnate, shrewd politician, briefly 'king of summer' and then a desperate fugitive who nevertheless returned from exile to recover the kingdom he claimed, Bruce became a gifted military leader and a wise statesman, a leader with vision and energy. Colm McNamee combines the most up to date scholarship on this crucial figure in the history of the British Isles with lucid explanation of the medieval context, so that readers of all backgrounds can appreciate Bruce's enormous contribution to the historical impact not just on Scotland, but on England and Ireland too. It is designed to encourage popular reassessment of Bruce as politician, warrior, monarch and saviour of Scottish identity from extinction at the hands of the Edwardian superstate. Peeling back the layers of misconception and propaganda, the author paints an accurate, sympathetic but balanced portrait of a much beloved national hero who has fallen out of fashion of late for no good reason.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe 18th annual meeting of the Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology (SOMA) was held in Wrocław-Poland, 24th to 26th April 2014. Since prehistoric times the Mediterranean has acted as a stage for intense interactions between groups inhabiting regions that are now studied mainly within various sub-fields of ancient studies. In recent years, however, the development of research techniques and analytical models of archaeological evidence have identified similar historical paths that are similar, if not, in some cases, common to these disparate areas of the ancient world from West (Iberian peninsula) to East (Anatolia and Levant), from North (Europe, Black Sea Coast) to South (Maghreb and Egypt). The 18th SOMA provided a forum for presentations related to the above-mentioned topics, as well as general themes such as the role of the sea, trade, colonization, even piracy, using archaeological data collected within contexts associated with the Mediterranean Basin and the area referred to as the Ancient Near East, ranging chronologically from the Prehistoric to Medieval periods. This current volume contains 22 papers selected from the 90 presented.Table of ContentsPreface (Błażej Stanisławski, Hakan ÖNİZ); Reconstruction of the Lost Temples of Palmyra (Ahmet DENK ER, Hakan ÖNİZ); Circulation of Christian Relics through the Mediterranean Sea (Alessandro LUCIAN O); The Wooden Medieval Ports (Alessandro LUCIAN O); Archaeometrical Studies of Ancient Window Glass Finds from Olba (Silifke, Mersin) Excavations in Turkey (Ali Akın AK YOL, Ayşe Emel ERTEN); The Conservation Project of the Mosaics in Metropolis (Ali Kazım ÖZ); An Ostothek with Mythological Scene From Avsar (Asuman BALDIRAN); An Ostothek with Mythological Scene From Avsar Aims, Sources and Objectives of the Project: ‘Constantinople/ İstanbul-Küçükçekmece – The Port of Destination of the Varangian Way: “Byzantinization”’ of a Rus Community Centre (Błażej Stanisławski, Sengül Aydı ngün, Hakan Öniz); Northwest Anatolia from the Perspective of Travellers: Social, Cultural Life and Archaeological Remains (Güngör KA RAUĞUZ); Submerged Prehistoric Sites in Turkey: Dam Constructions (Hakan Öniz); The Coastal Quarries of Lebanon: Case Studies of Enfeh, Batroun and Byblos (Jeanine Abdul MASSIH); Private Architecture from Ptolemais (Libya) (Julia MIK OCKA); Expeditions to Turkey – First Attempts at Heritage Recognition (Katarzyna JELEŃ); Some Oil Lamp Ship Scenes from the Roman Period (Koray ALPER, Eda Güngör ALPER); The Lion as a Symbol in Mesopotamian and Greek Civilizations: Archaeological Remarks and Historical Evidence (Krzysztof ULAN OWSKI); Architectural and Artistic Changes and Developments in Transjordanian Churches under Islamic Rule (Lihi HABAS); Examining Aspects of History, Religion and Trading Contacts of Ionian Colonies of the Western Shores of ‘Euxinus Pontus’: The Case of Tomi and Orgame (Maria GI RTZI); Amphorae Ceramic Stoppers From Risan, Montenegro (Seasons 2001-2013) (Marta BAJTLER); Applied Methodology for the Terrestrial Survey of the Coastal Town of Anfeh, Lebanon (Nadine PANA YOT HAROUN); Spatial Planning of the Narlıca Baths, Antakya (Nizam ABAY); Spolia in Seljuk Buildings (Osman ERAVŞAR); Everyday Life of a Medieval Ship Crew – Ceramic Materials from a Shipwreck near Novyi Svit (Veiber ALINA)

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Bruces of fourteenth-century Scotland were formidable and enthusiastic warriors. Whilst much has been written about events as they happened in Scotland during the chaotic years of the first part of the fourteenth century, England’s war with Robert the Bruce profoundly affected the whole of the British Isles. Scottish raiders struck deep into the heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire; Robert’s younger brother, Edward Bruce, was proclaimed King of Ireland and came close to subduing the country; the Isle of Man was captured and a Welsh sea-port was raided; and in the North Sea Scots allied with German and Flemish pirates to cripple England’s vital wool trade and disrupt its war effort. Packed with detail and written with a strong and involving narrative thread, this is the first book to link up the various theatres of war and discuss the effect of the wars of the Bruces outside Scotland.Trade Review'incredibly well researched and rich in historical analysis' * Scottish Field *'This is a fine book that should be of interest to a much wider audience than historians' -- Michael Prestwich, University of Durham'for well crafted history, this volume would be hard to beat' -- Danny Murphy * S.A.T.H. *

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Deserves to sell like hot cakes' - Allan Massie, The Scotsman Shortlisted for the Saltire Society History Book of the Year From the Indian Mutiny to the London Blitz, offering a ‘nice cup of tea’ has been a stock British response to a crisis. But tea itself has a dramatic, and often violent, history. That history is inextricably interwoven with the story of Scotland. Scots were overwhelmingly responsible for the introduction and development of the UK’s national drink, and were the foremost pioneers in the development of tea as an international commodity. This book reveals how Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon and Africa all owe their thriving tea industries to pioneering work by Scottish adventurers and entrepreneurs. It’s a dramatic tale. Many of these men jeopardised their lives to lay the foundation of the tea industry. Many Scots made fortunes – but it is a story with a dark side in which racism, the exploitation of native peoples and environmental devastation was the price paid for ‘a nice cup of tea’. Les Wilson brings the story right up to date, with a look at the recent development of tea plantations in Scottish hills and glens.Trade Review'Rich in fascinating detail and stories ... it deserves to sell like hot cakes washed down with a fortifying blend of Assam and Ceylon tea' -- Allan Massie * The Scotsman *'[Wilson's] book is overwhelmingly a delight, infused with unstinting research' -- Hugh Macdonald * Glasgow Herald *'Wilson is an excellent writer, creating an intriguing and compulsive narrative from remarkably thorough and wide-ranging research. Encapsulated in the cup of tea tray on the breakfast table is a history of which few of us are aware, and a history that often reads like a novel of buckled swashes and dos that have been derringed. Even if you’re a coffee drinker, 'Putting the Tea in Britain' is a highly desirable purchase' -- Brian Palmer * Ileach *'The blood-stained story of tea is a fascinating one in which the Scots were front and centre. Les Wilson is a skilled writer who weaves a fast-paced, compelling tale' * Scottish Field *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book presents an overview of the results of the research project DESPAMED funded by the Spanish Minister of Economy and Competitiveness. The aim of the book is to discuss the theoretical challenges posed by the study of social inequality and social complexity in early medieval peasant communities in North-western Iberia. Traditional approaches have defined these communities as poor, simple and even nomadic, in the framework of a self-sufficient economy that prioritised animal husbandry over agriculture. This picture has radically changed over the last couple of decades as a result of important research on the archaeology of peasantry and the critical analysis of ninthand tenth-century documentary evidence that show the complexity of these rural societies. These new records are discussed in the light of a new research agenda centred on the analysis of the emergence of villages, the formation of local elites, the creation of socio-political networks and the role of identities in the legitimation of local inequalities. The nine chapters of this book explore the potential and the limits of the archaeological record to tackle social inequality in rural communities. Those considerations have a wider theoretical and methodological potential and are applicable to other regions and chronologies. The different chapters explore local societies through different methodologies and approaches such as food, settlement patterns, social exclusion, consumption patterns and social practices. In addition, the book introduces some of the most relevant topics studied currently by Iberian Medieval archaeologists, which are not always accessible to an international audience.Table of ContentsPreface (Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo); Inequality and social complexity in peasant societies. Some approaches to early medieval north-western Iberia (Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo); Settlement patterns and social inequality: The Duero Basin in Early Middle Ages (4th-8th centuries) (Carlos Tejerizo García); Social inequality in Early Medieval rural settlements: The case of central-northern Portugal in the 10th century (Catarina Tente); Faunal remains and social inequality in the Basque Country during the Early Middle Ages (Idoia Grau-Sologestoa); Food consumption patterns and social inequality in an early medieval rural community in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula (Maite Iris García-Collado); Technology and social complexity: iron tools and peasant communities in the Medieval period (David Larreina García); Production, consumption and political complexity: early medieval pottery in Castile and Southern Tuscany (7th-10th centuries) (Francesca Grassi); Invisible social inequalities in early medieval communities: the bare bones of household slavery (Alfonso Vigil-Escalera Guirado); Words, things and social inequality: the village of Torrentejo (Igor Santos Salazar)

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Great Tapestry of Scotland is one of the most ambitious community arts projects ever undertaken. The brainchild of bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith, historian Alistair Moffat and artist Andrew Crummy, it was created by a team of over a thousand volunteer stitchers between 2012 and 2013, who cumulatively spent more than 50,000 hours on the project. At 143 metres, it is twice the length of the Bayeux Tapestry, and its 160 panels features key moment from over 8,500 of Scottish history. This book features a selection of drawings featuring complete panels as well as details by Andrew Crummy, all specially adapted to allow colouring enthusiasts to share in this remarkable work of art.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOn a hillside near Ballachulish in the Scottish Highlands in May 1752 a rider is assassinated by a gunman. The murdered man is Colin Campbell, a government agent travelling to nearby Duror where he’s evicting farm tenants to make way for his relatives. Campbell’s killer evades capture, but Britain’s rulers insist this challenge to their authority must result in a hanging. The sacrificial victim is James Stewart, who is organising resistance to Campbell’s takeover of lands long held by his clan, the Appin Stewarts. James is a veteran of the Highland uprising crushed in April 1746 at Culloden. In Duror he sees homes torched by troops using terror tactics against rebel Highlanders. The same brutal response to dissent means that James’s corpse will for years hang from a towering gibbet and leave a community utterly ravaged. Introducing this new and updated edition of his account of what came to be called the Appin Murder, historian James Hunter tells how his own Duror upbringing introduced him to the tragic story of James Stewart.Trade Review'Hunter has left no stone unturned in his research… Hunter infuses his writing with a sense of urgency that drives the reader through the more expository sections towards the tragic, foregone conclusion' -- Kai Durkin * Dundee Courier, Book of the Week *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Nature and Origin of the Cult of Silvanus in the Roman Provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia deals with the cult of Silvanus and presents the evidence and current state of research of the cult in Dalmatia and Pannonia to the wider scholarly community. New perceptions on the subject are proposed and a fresh standpoint from which certain problems may be (re)addressed is presented.Table of ContentsForeword; Introduction; 1. The Cult of Silvanus in Rome, Dalmatia and Pannonia; 2. Dedicators and Epithets of Silvanus; 3. The Reliefs; 4. Interpretatio Romana and Syncretism; 5. Silvanus' Shrines; 6. Concluding Remarks; 7. Conclusion; Bibliography; I Catalogue; II The Catalogue Unit; III. Silvanus in Dalmatia (Map 1); IV. Silvanus in Pannonia (Map 2)

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe south of Scotland has a long and turbulent geological past. Perhaps most notably, it marks the place where, 432 million years ago, an ocean, once as wide as the north Atlantic, was compressed by a convergence of ancient lands and then ceased to be. Deserts covered the land with thick layers of brick-red coloured rocks, known as the Old Red Sandstone, piled up and dumped by rivers and streams that crisscrossed the area. Around 432 million years ago, violent explosive volcanic activity gave rise to the prominent landscape features recognised today as the Eildon Hills. In later geological times, the area was blanketed with massive sand dunes, later compressed to create the building stones from which Dumfries, Glasgow and other towns and cities, were constructed. It is also the place where the modern science of geology was born. James Hutton, star of the Scottish Enlightenment, found inspiration from his study of the local rocks. Sites he described almost 250 years ago are still hailed as amongst the most historic and important rock exposures to be found anywhere in the world.Trade Review'Alan McKirdy’s insights are valuable because he is the author of a string of accessible and informative short illustrated books on the geological history of Scotland' * West Highland Free Press *'Not only are they a wealth of information on Scotland's past, they offer valuable insight as Scotland’s future becomes increasingly uncertain due to climate change' * Dundee Courier *

Read more less